Lunar Eclipse
Dust off your telescope and binoculars today for the first lunar eclipse in 3 years.
The moon will turn a shade of crimson as light reaching it from the sun is almost completely blotted out by the Earth. The eclipse will be at least partly visible on every continent, although residents of Europe, Africa and the Middle East will have the best view, weather permitting.
Lunar eclipses occur when Earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's light. The event is rare because the moon spends most of its time either above or below the plane of Earth's orbit.
Sunlight still reaches the moon during total eclipses, but it is refracted through Earth's atmosphere, bathing the moon in an eerie reddish light.
Despite cloudy conditions over much of Europe, a variety of webcasts were carrying the event live, and astronomers urged the public not to miss out on the spectacle.
03/03/02007 11:17 AM
