Total lunar eclipse Monday night

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   Stacie Lposted 14 years ago

   Amazing spectacle: Total lunar eclipse Monday night
   You may be able to see it from your backyard, if weather is favorable
   
   
   Image: Eclipse chart
   Starry Night Software
   Seen from Central Park in New York at 4:30 a.m., the eclipse is nearly over, but the moon stands high, flanked by Orion on the left and Auriga and Taurus on the right.
   By Joe Rao
   Space.com
   updated 12/17/2010 12:49:50 PM ET 2010-12-17T17:49:50
   
      
   For a few hours on the night of Dec. 20 to Dec. 21, the attention of tens of millions of people will be drawn skyward, where the mottled, coppery globe of our moon will hang completely immersed in the long, tapering cone of shadow cast out into space by our Earth. If the weather is clear, favorably placed skywatchers will have a view of one of nature's most beautiful spectacles: a total eclipse of the moon.
   
   Unlike a total eclipse of the sun, which is only visible to those in the path of totality, eclipses of the moon can usually be observed from one's own backyard. The passage of the moon through the Earth's shadow is equally visible from all places within the hemisphere where the moon is above the horizon.
   
   The total phase of the upcoming event will be visible across all of North and South America, as well as the northern and western part of Europe, and a small part of northeast Asia, including Korea and much of Japan. Totality will also be visible in its entirety from the North Island of New Zealand and Hawaii — a potential viewing audience of about 1.5 billion people. This will be the first opportunity from any place on earth to see the moon undergo a total eclipse in 34 months. [ Amazing photos of a total lunar eclipse]
   
   
   
   This star chart shows where in the sky the upcoming lunar eclipse will appear. And check this NASA lunar eclipse chart to see how visible the eclipse will be from different regions around the world...
   http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40719498?gt1=43001

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2. 75

   IzzyMposted 14 years ago

   Wow! That sounds interesting! What time on Monday night? Anyone care to to remind me on Monday in case I forget?

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   AliciaCposted 14 years ago

   What I find interesting is that the total lunar eclipse is supposed to be visible in the late hours of December 20th and the early hours of December 21st and December 21st is also the date of the winter solstice. A total lunar eclipse and the winter solstice haven’t coincided for 456 years.

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