Tomorrow evening, Houston-area residents are in for a treat — a total lunar eclipse:
The eclipse that will occur on Oct. 27 should last for one hour and 21 minutes. The next lunar eclipse visible in North America will be in mid-October 2005, but the Earth’s shadow will only cover about seven percent of the moon.
A lunar eclipse can be seen anywhere that the moon can be seen. The backyard will work fine. There are a few star parties in the Houston area that will give enthusiasts the opportunity to talk to astronomers and gaze through their telescopes.
The North Houston Astronomy Club will be hosting a party near Humble at the Jack Fields Elementary School on South Houston Avenue (information and map on the Humble ISD Web site: www.humble.k12.tx.us). The Fort Bend Astronomy Club will be hosting one at the George Observatory in Brazos Bend State Park southwest of Houston (information and directions on their Web site: www.fbac.org). The Observatory at Sam Houston State University, northeast of Huntsville will be hosting a star party (map on their Web site: www.shsu.edu/~phy_www/map.pdf) and the Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society will be hosting one at the Lunar and Planetary Institute on Bay Area Boulevard in Houston (directions on their Web site: www.lpi.usra.edu/education/other_programs/space_days.shtml).
All programs are free and open to the public.Astronomers and enthusiasts urge Houstonians to watch the eclipse. It will be many years before southeast Texas sees another total lunar eclipse.
Pretty cool!
Update: Laurence Simon points out (in the forum) that the eclipse will be total at 9:23 p.m.
