when is the next lunar eclipse?

You don't have long to wait!

The next eclipse will be a total eclipse of the moon on Wednesday February 20th. The partial eclipse starts shortly after 7:43 p.m. Central Time. Totality begins at 9 p.m. (Central) sharp, and lasts 51 minutes.

The next lunar eclipse after that, visible from Chicago, will be in the wee hours of December 21, 2010,

To see a solar eclipse, you'll have to wait until the evening of May 20, 2012. Shortly before sundown that May evening, a partial eclipse of the sun will begin, but the sun will set, partially eclipsed, before mid-eclipse. You'll need a perfect view of the northwestern horizon, say from atop a tall building.

The next total eclipse of the sun that Chicago will see will be September 14, 2099. In the meantime, however, there will be other total and annular eclipses that pass over other parts of the country, especially the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017.

The next lunar eclipse will be a penumbral (partial) eclipse occurring on February 9, 2009, while the next total lunar eclipse will occur on December 21, 2010.

Lunar eclipses are predictable since they follow a cycle of just over 18 years:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_21st_century_...

The next solar eclipse will be a partial (annular) January 26, 2009. The next total solar eclipse will be July 22, 2009.

Solar eclipses are much more difficult to predict since there can be between 2 and 5 partial eclipses in any year. It is estimated that solar eclipses may follow a 370 year cycle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_eclipse...

The next lunar eclipse will be the penumbral eclipse on 9th February 2009, to be seen mainly in Asia and the Pacific, but it will only be visible as a slight shading on one edge of the moon, because, being a penumbral eclipse, the Moon won't pass into the darkest part of the Earth's shadow (the umbra).

The next solar eclipse will be the annular eclipse on 26th January 2009, visible in the Indian Ocean