Did you know that tonight there will be a total lunar eclipse, making the moon red for about 72 minutes? Find out what time and also track it completely free of charge (through 12/21) with the SkySafari Lite app for iPhone.
SkySafari Lite the only iPhone app that can show you the total lunar eclipse of December 20-21, 2010! But it's much more than that. SkySafari Lite is a celestial travel guide - an easy-to-use planetarium program app to help you explore the night sky. It is brought to you by Southern Stars, previously the mobile application division of Carina Software.
So what time is this so called lunar eclipse going down? According to POPSCI.com:
"For the first time since 1638, a total lunar eclipse will be visible from North America on the longest night of the year. That night just happens to be tonight, starting at 1:32 AM, so all you moon-oglers will have to stay up awfully late (or wake up perversely early) to catch it.
The eclipse, in which the Earth's shadow completely blocks out the moon, will last for a particularly long time tonight--it will start at 1:32 AM (Eastern Time), with the total eclipse beginning at 2:41 AM. (West coasters can do the time zone math themselves, and watch the eclipse in shorts with their movie star neighbors on the beach, or whatever they do out there.)
The total eclipse will last for a whopping 72 minutes, until 3:53 AM, during which the moon will appear to change colors, most noticeably to bright orange-red. But do not be alarmed! The moon is not on fire, functioning as some kind of pagan punishment to celebrate the winter solstice. It'll be changing colors due to the light filtering through Earth's atmosphere and reflecting on the moon's dull surface."
What makes this particularly kick-ass is that it occurs on the Winter Solstice. The last time that happened was 1638 and won't happen again until 2094!
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