On Wednesday 26 May, the STEW club met again, this time turning our eyes to the skies to learn about that night’s total lunar eclipse. For centuries people have turned to the skies to one of the most spectacular events. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon falls in the direct shadow of the earth causing it to darken before eventually turning a blood red. On Wednesday the moon turned this shade of red for a total of 14 minutes as it crossed behind the earth. Students learnt through a presentation led by myself and Mr Berryman about why this happens and about how the refraction of red light of the earth atmosphere that causes the moon to go a blood red. Through a demonstration involving a ball and the earth students saw how the earth can cast a shadow across the moon when directly behind it. Contrarily, students also discovered how the exact opposite can occur with the moon casting a shadow on the earth, when it crosses in front of the sun. Additionally, the club also had the opportunity to look at a variety of different photos of planets taken by myself. Students were able to get a close look of some of the planets including the giants, Jupiter and Saturn and the dusty red planet of Mars. Congratulations to all the students who came down and I hope you all got to see the eclipse.

Josh Tapley, Science and Technologies Captain

Josh’s pictures:

Eclipse

Jupiter

Mars