Total eclipse of moon begins but clouds mar some skygazing

LOS ANGELES -- The Earth began to eclipse the moon Thursday night but weather conditions made viewing opportunities spotty at some locations across the nation.

"We've got clouds. We're clouded out," said Kelly Beatty, executive editor of Sky & Telescope magazine in Boston. "It looks like we're going to have a disappointing night."

In Los Angeles, hundreds of people watched the spectacle from Griffith Park.

Parker Sydnam, 6, looked at the moon through a 6-inch telescope.

"It looks like a cloud, a pink cloud," Parker said.

It was difficult to make out the darkened moon through haze hanging over Los Angeles.

"It's over there -- it's the schmutz in the sky," said Kara Knack, a member of Friends of the Observatory, a Griffith Observatory support group.

Ed Krupp, observatory directory, promised skygazers the view would improve as the moon climbed higher.

"It's only going to get better," he said.

The eclipse began at 7:03 p.m. PDT, or 10:03 p.m. EDT, but only for skygazers on the East Coast and South America. It wasn't visible over the West and much of Central America until the moon rose, which in Los Angeles came nearly 40 minutes later.

The moon was to remain totally eclipsed for 53 minutes as seen from North America, appearing darkest around 9 p.m. PDT or midnight on the East Coast.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the full moon passes into the shadow of the Earth and is blocked from the direct sunlight that normally illuminates it. During an eclipse, the sun, Earth and moon line up, leaving a darkened moon visible to everyone on the night side of the planet.

The moon does not go totally black, however. Some indirect sunlight still reaches the moon after passing through the Earth's atmosphere. Since the atmosphere filters out blue light, the indirect light that does reach the moon paints it a ruddy red or orange.

Lunar eclipses are safe to view with the naked eye, unlike solar eclipses, which are also far briefer. On Thursday, amateur astronomers at outdoor eclipse parties used telescopes and binoculars to sharpen their view of the moon.

Thursday's eclipse was the first visible across North America since January 2000. It was also visible from South and Central America, as well as western Europe and Africa.

A second lunar eclipse on Nov. 8 will be visible from North and South America.

------

On the Net:

Naval Observatory: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/LunarEclipse.html

Griffith Observatory: http://www.griffithobs.org/lunareclipse.html