Hilmar;

My wife and I went outside and walked for several miles trying to find the moon. The television news reporters did not mention the area of the sky it would be in. It was a clear evening which is not always the case in Silicon Valley. Well, we missed it. A friend in Santa Cruz saw it and gave a great description. She said her mother and father (who live not far from us) could not see it either.

We should have gone to Mt. Hamiliton to see this event as there are too many trees and houses in our flat valley. :)

Tom


>In Cochabamba, we were lucky on this one. At 9:00 p.m. local time (1:00 UTC) the sky was perfectly clear, when the eclipse was about to start, it started to get a little cloudy, but the clouds dissipated soon, giving perfect visibility.
>
>Quite unfortunate was the fact that the local television stated that the lunar eclipse would start one hour earlier (1:00 UTC). Technically it did - but the entrance of the moon into the Earth's partial shadow is hardly noticeable. A few minutes before 2:03 UTC, one who had observed several lunar eclipses before (namely me) could notice a slight darkening on one side of the moon, but other people claimed it was only the clouds.
>
>So, as a result, several people watched the moon, didn't see anything (once more: the preliminary phase is hardly noticeable), and then went inside, disappointed.
>
>>In the night from Thursday, 15.May, to Friday, 16.May.
>>
>>2:03 UTC: The moon starts entering the main shadow of the Earth.
>>3:14 UTC: The moon is totally covered (still visible, but very dark).
>>4:06 UTC: Total coverage finishes.
>>5:17 UTC: The moon exist the main shadow of the Earth.
>>...