lunar eclipse and saturn

the moon is quickly approaching earths shadow and will pass right thru it tonight! starting around 8 pm (CST from austin, tx), look up to see the moon slowly turning orange. the shadow starts at the lower left of the moon and creeps up as the moon moves into the shadow. by 9:30pm, we will be at totality, when the moon is completely dark reddish, but make a note if the colors are different.

the additionally cool thing about this eclipse, is that bright planet saturn will sit just to the lower left of the moon and the star regulus to the upper right (yeah, saturn and regulus are still close together!




if you have a pair of binoculars or access to a telescope, this would be a good night to look at the moon and saturn with its rings. if the weather here clears up (its not looking too hopeful), i'll be going to a public lecture about life in the universe and then heading to the old telescope on top of painter hall! clouds, clouds go away... come again some other day!