NASA's website has details of a total lunar eclipse that will take place this evening and which will be the last one until December of 2010. For those wondering what all of the fuss is about, NASA says "A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth lines up directly between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow over the moon's surface. The February 20, 2008 eclipse will last for nearly 3 and a half hours. For a full 50 minutes of that time the moon will be in totality - the period when the lunar surface is completely covered by the Earth's shadow. During an eclipse the moon changes color, going from a light gray color to an orange or deep red shade. This is totality. The moon takes on this new color because indirect sunlight is still able to pass through the Earth's atmosphere and cast a glow on the moon." For those of us in Canada, the partial eclipse will begin at 9:43 p.m. AT (10:13 NT, 8:43 ET, 7:43 CT, 6:43 MT and 5:43 PT) with the total eclipse beginning an hour and 18 minutes later. Residents of the Americas, Europe and Africa will have the best view according to NASA.
