Weather permitting, almost anyone in North America will be able to see a total lunar eclipse of the full moon tonight.
Moreover, tonight's eclipse will fall on the same day as the winter solstice, the first such occurrence since 1638.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon, Earth, and the sun all line up, with Earth in the middle.
Around 1 a.m. EST tonight the Earth will begin casting a faint shadow on the moon. The shadow will continue to advance until the total eclipse, which is expected to begin at 2:41 a.m. EST, and will last for a little over 70 minutes.
For all those night owls and amateur astronomers out there, hopefully you'll have some clear skies in your neck of the woods tonight!
For a better understanding of what to expect tonight, please click here.
"There is no dark side of the moon really.
Matter of fact it's all dark."
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Articles and information on hiking, outdoor adventures and the Great Smoky Mountains. For hiking trail information in the Smokies, please visit HikingintheSmokys.com
Full Moon /
total lunar eclipse /
winter solstice
Total eclipse of full moon tonight
Monday, December 20, 2010
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2 comments
Looks like we'll be having lots of clouds Jeff. If I can stay up that long I might go out on the back deck to check it out. Otherwise I'll likely be snoozing away.
Tim,
http://appalachiaandbeyond.blogspot.com
Tim - yes, the weather isn't looking good here as well. But I'm going to give it the old college try, afterall, I don't plan on waiting 400 years to get another opportunity to see a lunar eclipse on the winter solstice!
Jeff
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