RESULTS FROM PHOTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF IMAGES OF THE 2026 MARCH 03 TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE

                                                                                                                     Helio de Carvalho Vital

 

BASED ON IMAGES CAPTURED FROM THE LIVE STREAM VIDEO OF THE ECLIPSE POSTED BY GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY (LOS ANGELES, USA),

PHOTOMETRIC ESTIMATES WERE MADE BY COMPARING THE LUMINANCE IN THE GREEN BAND OF THE MOON TO THAT OF THE STAR REGULUS (mv = 1.4)

USING THE PHOTOFILTRE PROGRAM. ACTING AS A SENSITIVE SCREEN, THE MOON CROSSED SOUTHERN UMBRAL LATITUDES FROM -23° (U2) TO -84° (U3),

OPTICALLY PROBING THE TRANSMITTANCE OF GRAZING SUNLIGHT ACROSS THE STRATOSPHERE DURING TWILIGHT OVER THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.


                                                                                              THE FINDINGS ARE LISTED BELOW:

WAS IT A BRIGHT ECLIPSE? Yes

MID-ECLIPSE PREVAILING COLOR OF THE MOON`S DISK: Copper red

TRANSPARENCY OF UMBRA (VISIBILITY OF LUNAR SURFACE FEATURES): High

GREEN BAND LUMINANCE RATIO BETWEEN THE MOON AND REGULUS AT MID-TOTALITY: 53±1

PREDICTED VISUAL MAGNITUDE FROM AUTHOR`S CORRELATION WITH UMBRAL MAGNITUDE: -2.5±0.3

MID-ECLIPSE VISUAL MAGNITUDE OF THE MOON DETERMINED FROM IMAGES: -2.9±0.1

DANJON NUMBER (L) FROM AUTHOR`S CORRELATION WITH VISUAL MAGNITUDE: 3.2±0.1

WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MOON`S PREDICTED AND OBSERVED MAGNITUDES? -0.4±0.3

WAS THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT DARKENING EFFECT DUE TO STRATOSPHERIC VOLCANIC AEROSOLS? No

WAS THE MOON SLIGHTLY BRIGHTER THAN PREDICTED DUE TO A LOWER-THAN-AVERAGE INCIDENCE OF HIGH

CLOUDS ALONG THE TERMINATOR? Possibly, there was about half the area usually covered by Cirrus cloud systems.


                                                                                                                LUNISSOLAR