Total Lunar Eclipse: Second Moon Show of the Year takes place November 8

On the night of November 8, viewers in the Americas, and early morning November 9 for viewers in Europe and Africa, the full Moon will pass through the Earth's shadow in the second lunar eclipse of the year. The May lunar eclipse was shrouded behind clouds for many but hopefully clear skies will prevail for the event this weekend.

The eclipse will be visible from your backyard, and although darker skies are better, even some light from street lamps won't ruin the viewing entirely. You don't need any special equipment to watch the eclipse either, all you need is a clock and to be able to spot the Moon! This is a great show for the whole family because it doesn't happen late at night.

A lunar eclipse can only occur when the Moon is full and it passes behind the Earth and into its' shadow. We don't have an eclipse every full Moon because the Moon's orbit is tilted about five degrees from the Earth's. Most months the Moon passes slightly above or below the Earth's shadow.

Eclipses of the Sun and Moon often occur close together and in fact there is a solar eclipse on November 23 however it is not visible from our area. Solar eclipses are only visible in very limited areas because the path of the eclipse is very narrow. Lunar eclipses on the other hand are visible from wherever the Moon is above the horizon.

The full Moon rises in the east just after sunset. When the Moon is in the penumbra, the outer part of the Earth's shadow, it is difficult to notice any change. But as the Moon begins to move into the darker portion of the Earth's shadow, you will be able to watch the Moon disappear in shadow from its left edge.

Fred Peters, retired astronomer and satellite engineer from Lockheed Martin thinks watching a lunar eclipse is a great experience. "The lunar eclipse on November 8 is particularly nice for the folks on the east coast of the US. The Moon rises about five p.m. EST when it is the penumbra and total eclipse begins at 8:06 p.m. EST. Totality ends at 8:31 PM EST and the partial eclipse ends at 10:45 PM. EST"

Totality is the period of time when the Moon is completely within the Earth's shadow. Totality during this eclipse is shorter than average because the Moon is just passing through the inside edge of the Earth's shadow and so has a shorter path to travel through it.

If you've already seen a lunar eclipse don't think watching another one isn't worthwhile. No two eclipses are the same! In addition to variances in length of the eclipse, one of the most exciting parts of the eclipse to watch for is what the Moon looks like during totality.

Many people think that the Moon completely disappears during an eclipse and though that sometimes does happen, most times it doesn't. The Earth's atmosphere is a major factor in determining what the Moon will look like in a lunar eclipse.

During an eclipse, a small amount of light still reaches the Moon, reflected from sunrises and sunsets going on around the edges of our planet. This can make the Moon appear from nearly invisible, to murky brown to a beautiful blood red colour. The more dust there is in the Earth's atmosphere, the darker the Moon will be during totality.

As mentioned earlier, the Moon is passing along the edge of the Earth's shadow. That factor will also reduce how dark the Moon gets during totality but could enhance the colour.

Lunar eclipse watching if for everyone because you don't need to be a night sky expert with a telescope and star maps. If you have binoculars or a small telescope it's a worthwhile experience to watch the shadows creep across the Moon's craters. You could also try your hand at photographing the event. Many great images have been taken using only a telephoto lens on a camera.

Lunar eclipses were recorded very far back to the earliest written history. They were most often a source of fear and superstition because people didn't understand what was happening. All they knew was that the whole order of the heavens was upset when the Moon disappeared from the sky!

These days we know why lunar eclipses occur, but we are still just as fascinated to watch them. Hopefully this Saturday, clear skies will prevail and we will get to see the Moon's last disappearing act of 2003.

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