Total Lunar Eclipse Wednesday Night

UPDATE: 8:53 PM, WEDNESDAY, THE BEST EVER! It's cold here, with a chilly breeze and intermittent cloud cover, but when the total eclipse materialized, we saw the unreflective moon in all its splendor. Wow. It's still mostly in an melon colored shadow, but too chilly to stay out any longer, on this cold February night. Next one, 2010. See you around the galaxy! I love this kind of thing. When I was a little girl and would visit my grandpaprents in Dalton, Georgia, I would swoon over all the grand and mysterious books in my grandfather's magnificent library. One of my all time favorites was a big coffee table astronomy book---that weighed a ton---and had huge drawings and paintings of the solar system, the planets and the moon. It even detailed the moons of Saturn and the rings of Jupiter! I would lug it down from the shelves onto the floor and, often with my cousin Allan, literally pour over it for hours and hours on end. No one could find me in the house and finally when they did, would have to drag me away almost kicking and screaming. I dreamed of flying through the universe one day in star ships and on moonbeams.

Anyway, tonight is a total lunar eclipse. You recall that the sun, the earth (in the middle) and then the moon which has to be full at the time, all line up perfectly so that for a little while, there's no sun shining on the moon at all. It's only a brief moment in time which makes it all the more fascinating. Here's a little music to watch by. Hopefully the clouds will stay parted here and we can see the spectacle with our own eyes.