A lunar eclipse occurs whenever the Moon passes through some portion of the Earth's shadow. This can occur only when the Moon is full, and when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so.
According to NASA, the event begins 54 minutes past midnight PDT (3:54 a.m. EDT) on August 28 and this eclipse will be the deepest and longest in 7 years. The longest possible duration for the total phase is 107 minutes, and last occurred in July 2000.
Around 2:52 a.m. PDT (5:52 a.m. EDT) the color of the Moon changes from moondust-gray to sunset-red.
This is totality, and it lasts for almost 90 minutes. Dark eclipses are caused by volcanic gas and dust which filters and blocks much of the Sun's light from reaching the Moon. But since no major volcanic eruptions have taken place recently, the Moon will probably take on a vivid red or orange color during the total phase.
The eclipse will be visible from
The viewers on the West Coast the eclipse will get the best show, as for them the entire eclipse will be visible from start to finish before moonset in the early morning hours of Tuesday.
For the sky gazers living on the East Coast and in the Great Lakes States, the eclipse will start around dawn and will still be occurring when the Sun rises and the Moon sets that morning.
Finally, the people living across the Mid-West, Plains, and
If for us the eclipse will be just another sky show, for
NASA the Tuesday phenomenon is particularly important as the
LRO is a robotic mission designed to create a new type of comprehensive, digital map of the Moon's features and resources, necessary to cost-effectively, but mostly will focus on selecting safe landing sites for future human missions.
In order to watch to moon eclipse, you don’t need special glasses or eye protection, but with a binocular or a telescope, the show might be even more spectacular. According to NASA, the next moon eclipse will occur on Feb. 21, 2008 and if you will miss this one, the next chance to see such a phenomenon will be in 2010.