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Total Eclipse Coming Feb. 20

3 billion could see Earth's shadow blot moon

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 7, 2008 6:02 PM CST

(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.

The third such occurrence in a year, the lunar eclipse will begin at 10:01 pm ET. Weather permitting, North American backyard astronomers will be able to observe the entire 51-minute phase, but shouldn't expect utter darkness. The Earth's shadow is never total, and the rays of the sun that slip through our atmosphere will give the satellite a rusty, red-and-orange tint.

The moon is seen being covered by a shadow as the earth passes between the sun and the moon over Angel Moroni statue during a full lunar eclipse seen from Bogota early Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007. The event was  widely visible from the United States and Canada as well as...
The moon is seen being covered by a shadow as the earth passes between the sun and the moon over Angel Moroni statue during a full lunar eclipse seen from Bogota early Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007. The event...   (Associated Press)
The moon during a total lunar eclipse. (AP Photo/Rikubetsu Astronomy and Terrestrial Science Museum)
The moon during a total lunar eclipse. (AP Photo/Rikubetsu Astronomy and Terrestrial Science Museum)   (Associated Press)
The night sky.  (AP Photo/European Southern Observatory via PA)
The night sky. (AP Photo/European Southern Observatory via PA)   (Associated Press)
The moon glows orange aganst a background of stars during a total lunar eclipse early Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007, near Greenwater, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
The moon glows orange aganst a background of stars during a total lunar eclipse early Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007, near Greenwater, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)   (Associated Press)
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