THE ECLIPSE IS UNDERWAY
Realtime Lunar Eclipse Photo Gallery
LUNAR ECLIPSE AND MARTIAN CONJUNCTION: Tonight's the night. The Moon and Mars are converging for a midnight conjunction in the constellation Capricornus. This is no ordinary meeting of heavenly bodies. Mars is making a 15-year close approach to Earth, giving the Red Planet a luminosity that pierces the glare of the full Moon with ease.
During the conjunction, something strange and wonderful will happen to the Moon. It is going to pass through the shadow of our planet, turning the lunar disk as red as Mars. Astronomers call this a "total lunar eclipse." On every continent except North America, people can see Earth's shadow swallow the Moon for as much as 1 hour 43 minutes, making it the longest lunar eclipse in a century. [eclipse visibility map]
This animation, created by graphic artist Larry Koehn, shows how the eclipse will unfold:
Got a backyard telescope? Tonight is a good time to use it. Swing your optics between the Moon and Mars in quick succession to reveal the dusty-red martian disk alongside lunar mountains and craters. It's a special night. Enjoy the show!
Live webcasts: from Israel, from Belgium, from Israel.
FAR-OUT GIFT: Nothing says "I Love You" like a heart-shaped pendant from the edge of space. On March 17, 2018, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew an array of cosmic ray sensors to the stratosphere onboard a giant helium balloon. This pendant went along for the ride:
You can have it for $99.95. The students are selling these pendants as a fund-raiser for their cosmic ray monitoring program. Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery