Total lunar eclipse offers treat for skywatchersWednesday's total eclipse phase will last nearly an hour. It will begin around 7 p.m. on the West Coast and 10 p.m. on the East Coast. West Coast skygazers will miss the start of the eclipse because it occurs before the moon rises.
When to watchEclipses occur only at full moon when the sun, Earth and moon are in a perfect line. Because the moon's orbit around Earth is not perfectly aligned with the plane of Earth's orbit around the sun, eclipses do not occur at every full moon.
The moon will enter Earth's umbral shadow (the full shadow) at 8:43 p.m. ET (that's 7:43 p.m. Central, 6:43 p.m. Mountain and 5:43 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, Feb. 20. It will appear as though an ever-larger bite is being taken out of the moon.
Some 78 minutes later, the moon will slip into full eclipse. About 51 minutes later, a bright scallop will appear as the moon starts emerging. It will be completely out of the umbral shadow at 9:09 p.m. Pacific time, which is 12:09 a.m. ET on Thursday morning.
For Europe and Africa, the eclipse is a predawn Thursday event, with the moon starting entry to the umbral shadow at 1:43 Greenwich (or Universal) Time.
On Wednesday evening, Feb. 20th, the full Moon over the Americas will turn a delightful shade of red and possibly turquoise, too. It's a total lunar eclipse—the last one until Dec. 2010. Credit: NASA
Navy waits for satellite kill shotSpy Satellite's Destruction Might Be Visible Debris from the Department of Defense's planned shoot-down of a spy satellite may be visible to skywatchers in the northwestern United States and Canada, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.
Although it's hard to predict what will happen if the rocket succeeds in impacting the satellite, there is a chance that observers will see broken-off pieces of the satellite reflecting sunlight or burning up as they fall through Earth's atmosphere. The window of opportunity for the attempt is open for the next 10 days or so, though bad weather and high seas make it unlikely the exercise will occur today.
"There is a possibility that if someone were to have clear skies in the Pacific Northwest or Canada, they might see some of the debris," said Geoff Chester, public affairs officer for the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. "We just don't know. If the debris does enter the atmosphere then it's actually quite possible to see it anywhere along the ground track of the satellite."
Because only two satellites have been shot down before, each under unique conditions, experts don't have much experience to go on in predicting what to expect.
Shuttle safely home ahead of satellite shootdown
The European Space Agency's Columbus lab gets its closeup as the shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station on Feb. 18, 2008. Credit: NASA.
Space shuttle Atlantis successfully touches down at Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 7 2008 at 9:07 a.m. EST. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.
Space shuttle Atlantis' drag chute slowed down the craft as it landed on Runway 15 of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center after a nearly 5.3 million mile round trip to the International Space Station. Credit NASA.
