Total Lunar Eclipse Not Visible In U.S.

By: Pat Prescott
06/15/2011 05:04 PM ET

A total lunar eclipse is set to cast the darkest part of Earth’s shadow on the moon. It will happen on June 15th and last a total of 100 minutes. Though it won’t be seen in North America, a good part of the world from Europe east and south to eastern Australia and New Zealand will get to watch the event.

At the height of the event the moon’s brightness will be decisively dimmed. In turn much of the night sky normally unseen will be exposed, much to the delite of star gazers. Of course this would be weather permitting.

In 1982 during a similar event astrologers were surprised by the uncovered night sky. “I was amazed at how brilliantly the summer Milky Way glowed, because it was all but invisible” during the portions of the eclipse when the moon was passing through lighter portions of Earth’s shadow, according to Fred Espenak, an astrophysicist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., in an eclipse forecast he posted on the center’s web site.

The eclipse is set to begin at about 1:24 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, with the total eclipse beginning two hours later. The moon will be at its darkest at about 4:12 p.m. EDT. This will be the longest eclipse in 11 years. And as for those of us living in North America, there will be another lunar eclipse on Dec. 10th as the moon sets giving the western hemisphere a better view then in the eastern hemisphere.