Lunar Eclipse - Feb. 20 PM

Editor's Note:   The Lunar Eclipse was spectacular!  See some photos here.  

 On the evening of Wednesday, February 20, the moon will slip into the shadow of the earth for the second time in six months.   While the lunar eclipse of August 2007 occured in the wee hours of the morning, this eclipse will take place in prime evening hours.   You may notice the moon beginning to change colour around 7:00 PM MST.   At about 8:00 PM the moon will be totally within the shadow of the earth and will begin to come out of the shadow about 50 minutes later.

In addition to a prime viewing time for this eclipse, the moon will be joined by Saturn just to the east and by the bright star, Regulus, just to the west.  During totality you will notice the sky darken with other stars brightening and perhaps even the Milky Way becoming visible if you are viewing from a dark sky area.   This offers a good opportunity to observe some galaxies, star clusters and nebulas that normally would be washed out by a full moon. 

The next total eclipse of the moon visible to North America will not take place until 2010 so this is a good opportunity to catch this special event.   All-Star Telescope will be hosting an Observer Night will telescopes set for observing the moon and other celestial splendors.