Sky-Watchers Relish Total Lunar Eclipse

Early birds who look to the skies will get an eyeful on Tuesday

(NEWSER) - The Western US will get a celestial treat early Tuesday morning: a total lunar eclipse. Residents of the Western Hemisphere and eastern Asia will get at least a glimpse of the spectacle, but Europeans will miss out—the moon will be below the horizon. Space.com tells you how to make the most of the event, wherever you may be. More»

Spiritualists see energy, but scientists say coincidence

(NEWSER) - The longest night of 2010 could well be the darkest winter solstice in 456 years: Tuesday's solstice falls on the same day as a full lunar eclipse, a rare celestial occurrence that for some signifies great cosmic energies, reports the Montreal Gazette . Many religions associate the solstice with the rebirth of the sun, while lunar eclipses are significant especially for Wiccans, because of the interaction between male solar energies and female lunar energies. "The idea that the sun and the moon are almost at their darkest really only further goes to hammer" the idea of rebirth home, a Wiccan priestess says. More»

Hit the right spot and see 93M miles into the distance

(NEWSER) - Thousands of people will trek to the hinterlands on August 1 just to stand in the dark for three minutes. The reason: a total solar eclipse is set to sweep over a path spanning from China to Canada. Wired clues would-be eclipse chasers in on ways to maximize each sunless second.

1. Maximum shadow time: This year the Russian city of Nadym will see the longest total eclipse, set to click in at 2 minutes, 27 seconds. Don't waste your time traveling to a partial eclipse.

Experts tie Odysseus' return to Ithaca with real eclipse in 1178

(NEWSER) - Homer's Odyssey is 2,700 years old, and the events it describes happened centuries earlier. But two scientists claim in a new paper that they've traced one line in the epic poem—a possible reference to an eclipse—to a real astronomical event. Classicists might take issue, writes the New York Times, but the astronomers say that Odysseus' return to Ithaca coincided with a solar eclipse on April 16, 1178 BC. More»

3 billion could see Earth's shadow blot moon

(NEWSER) - Nearly half the world's population will find themselves really in the dark Feb. 20 as Earth's shadow totally eclipses the moon, LiveScience reports. Visible to 3 billion residents of North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia, the eclipsed moon will create a celestial triangle in the night sky, joining the planet Saturn and the bright star Regulus. More»