Eclipse tonight!

Total Lunar Eclipse Offers Treat for Skywatchers

From CNN.com: The last total lunar eclipse until 2010 occurs Wednesday night, with cameo appearances by Saturn and the bright star Regulus on either side of the veiled full moon.

Skywatchers viewing through a telescope will have the added treat of seeing Saturn's handsome rings.

Weather permitting, the total eclipse can be seen from North and South America. People in Europe and Africa will be able to see it high in the sky before dawn on Thursday.

As the moonlight dims -- it won't go totally dark -- Saturn and Regulus will pop out and sandwich the moon. Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation Leo.

Jack Horkheimer, host of the PBS show "Star Gazer," called the event "the moon, the lord of the rings and heart of the lion eclipse."

Wednesday's event will be the last total lunar eclipse until December 20, 2010.

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The last lunar total lunar eclipse was on the night of August 27. I was determined to see it (and slept on the couch so as not to wake my husband) and got up in the middle of the night to go outside and watch. It was very cool, I took lots of pictures and have posted them in an album on the left side of the blog, called 8/27/07 Eclipse. It is just so amazing to me, that what we see during an eclipse is the Earth's shadow passing over the moon!

I love astronomy, what's out there beyond our planet's atmosphere just fascinates me. Let me rephrase that, I love the observation part of astronomy...the astrophysics part I can take or leave. I was lucky enough to attend the St. Paul's School Advanced Studies Program in the summer of 1996 where I "majored" in astronomy and had access to their observatory and numerous different telescopes. It was a very cool experience, Jupiter was out that summer and there were days when through the Dobsonian telescope I could see all 4 of its moons! I also could see Saturn's rings and Comet Hale-Bopp, remember that one? Living in Las Vegas, the town that never sleeps and never gets dark, I haven't been able to do much stargazing over the past few years. One of the many reasons I am looking forward to moving back to New England is that I will have pitch black nights within easy driving distance so that I can enjoy things like the annual Perseid Meteor Shower.

So tune in tonight, the eclipse starts at 10 pm on the east coast and at 7 pm on the west coast. Those of us on the west coast will miss the beginning because it is just before the moon rises.