Hi everybody!

Here's an extra newsletter to remind you of the solstice eclipse in the early hours of tomorrow morning, the day of the northern hemisphere winter solstice. This is the first time this has happened in nearly four centures.

Theoretically, North Americans can see the entire eclipse, but the current weather makes it questionable how many people will have clear skies for it. It begins around 1.30 a.m. EST and takes about three and a half hours. The moon will be completely eclipsed from 02.41 to 3.53 a.m. EST.

Here is a new article which is about lunar eclipses.

Lunar Eclipses
Imagine the horror: Something is eating the Moon, leaving its face covered in blood. This was how people once viewed lunar eclipses. Find out what actually causes a lunar eclipse, why the Moon may turn red during an eclipse, and where a lunar eclipse becomes a solar eclipse.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art28454.asp

If you want to know if the eclipse is visible where you are, have a look at Fred Espenak's page: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2010-Fig04.pdf

If you're up, but it's too cold or too cloudy to go outside, NASA will be running live video and chat from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama at http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/lunar_eclipse.html

That's all for this now.  Wishing you clear skies.

Please visit astronomy.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Astronomy.

To participate in online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Astronomy located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=323

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I welcome your feedback!

Do pass this message along to family and friends who might also be interested.  Remember it's free and without obligation.

Mona Evans, Astronomy Editor
http://astronomy.bellaonline.com