Total lunar eclipse

The lunar eclipse in January 2000 as seen from Uppsala. Credit: Johan Warell, SAAF's gallery.

A total lunar eclipse will occur during the night February 20 to 21. At some occasions, typically a few times a year, the Sun, the Moon and the Earth line up, so that eclipses are possible. When the Earth casts its shadow on the Moon, we get an eclipse of the Moon. During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon does not "disappear" completely, but will be coloured red or redbrown. The reason for this is that the red part of the sunlight is refracted in the Earth's atmosphere and hits the Moon.

The totality of this eclipse starts at 4:00 am and ends 4:51. At this time the Moon is located in the south. Already at quarter to three, the partial phase of the eclipse begins, and the visually observable part of the eclipse continues until shortly after six in the morning. More information on the lunar eclipse can for example be found on Sky and Telescope's webpage.