Lunar eclipse coming Saturday

Saturday, for the second time in a year, Midlanders will be treated to a lunar eclipse.

The eclipse will begin as the moon rises and will end shortly after 9 p.m. The most noticeable part of the eclipse will last less than a half-hour, from 7:06 p.m. to 7:31 p.m., which will make this eclipse shorter than usual.

Lunar eclipses occur when the Earth stands between the sun and moon. The only light that reaches the moon is light that is bent back behind the Earth by the Earth’s atmosphere.

Like a sunset, the dust in the Earth’s atmosphere colors the light that reaches the moon. University of Nebraska at Omaha astronomer David Kriegler said he expects the moon to take on an orangish color during this eclipse.

During this eclipse the moon will be passing through the edge of the Earth’s shadow, rather than the deepest part. As a result, University of Nebraska-Lincoln astronomer Martin Gaskell said, this eclipse probably won’t be a very dark one.

The next total lunar eclipse visible from North America will be Oct. 27, 2004.

Although a telescope is not necessary for viewing a lunar eclipse, several public viewings have been scheduled Saturday:

UNL’s Student Observatory, Stadium Parking Garage, 10th and T Streets, 6 to 9 p.m. Free.

UNO’s Durham Science Center, 6:30 to about 9 p.m. Free.

Neale Woods Nature Center, Millard Observatory, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission fee.

Lunar eclipse

Earth’s shadow will darken the moon Saturday night and an atmospheric effect may give it an orangish-red color.

What happens….

Earth moves directly between sun and moon

Why moon turns red….

Some sunlight filters through Earth’s atmosphere and reaches moon

Light is reddish because, like the red light of a sunset, it has passed through atmosphere at a low angle

SOURCE: Tycho Brahe Planetarium, NASA

Graphic: Elsebeth Nielsen, Morten Lyhne