Lunar Eclipse December 2010

A Total Lunar Eclipse

We are going to witness a rare total lunar eclipse on the evening of December 21. This eclipse is going to coincide with the winter solstice this year. 

If you don’t see the total lunar eclipse on Monday / Tuesday (depending upon your location) you will have to wait until 2014 to see the next one.

The action will start at 7:33 pm eastern when the moon will begin to enter the Earth’s inner shadow, also known as the Earth’s umbra. At that point, weather permitting, everyone in North America will see a red-brown shadow slowly make its way across the surface of the moon. After 72 minutes, the moon will be fully eclipsed. The moon will then begin to come out of the Earth’s umbra and will once again become fully visible at 11:01 pm eastern.

Unlike a solar eclipse, the moon seldom looks blackened out during a total lunar eclipse. Instead, thanks to the refraction of light from sunrises and sunsets all across the world, the moon usually takes on a bright copper-orange shade, or sometimes a dark red-black shade if there’s a lot of pollution in the atmosphere.

credits to space.com, NASA and GSFC

Regardless of what shade the moon becomes, it will be a fantastic event to witness for people of all ages.

The Ursids meteor shower aren’t supposedly bright enough as the Geminid, but the stars and the moon are aligned on a very nice position on this night that the Ursids meteor shower will be visible.