Will I see the Lunar Eclipse?

Hi Mass!

Yes! Monday night's eclipse is visible all over North America.

The partial eclipse starts at 1:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Tuesday morning.

It takes just over an hour for the earth's shadow to completely engulf the moon, which means that totality arrives at 2:41 a.m. EST and then lasts for another hour and 12 minutes.

This eclipse is shallow, as total lunar eclipses go. That means that during totality, the moon will remain a coppery red. Some total eclipses are deeper, and the moon darkens to the point where you might not even notice it if you didn't know where to look. This eclipse is not one of these.

Well, ..., you should be able to see the entire eclipse even in the city. I'd just try to get away from the city lights. Here's the data for Boston, MA (Even though the data is for Bostonthe data is going to be about the same for the entire state of Mass.).

Start of totality: 2010 Dec 21 02:40:09

Maximum eclipse: 2010 Dec 21 03:16:44

End of totality: 2010 Dec 21 03:53:22

Total Eclipse of the Moon

Site Information

Latitude: 42° 21' 36" N

Longitude: 71° 3' 36" W

Height above sea level: 10 metres

Time zone: 5h behind UT

The entire eclipse is visible from this location.

Circumstances of the Eclipse

Moon enters penumbra: 2010 Dec 21 00:27:31

Moon enters umbra: 2010 Dec 21 01:32:05

Start of totality: 2010 Dec 21 02:40:09

Maximum eclipse: 2010 Dec 21 03:16:44

End of totality: 2010 Dec 21 03:53:22

Moon leaves umbra: 2010 Dec 21 05:01:27

Moon leaves penumbra: 2010 Dec 21 06:05:52

Umbral magnitude: 1.261

Penumbral magnitude: 2.306

Duration of total phase: 1h 13m 12s

Duration of umbral phase: 3h 29m 21s

Duration of penumbral phase: 5h 38m 21s

Altitude of the Moon

From this observing location, the altitude of the Moon is as follows:

Moon enters penumbra: 68.3°

Moon enters umbra: 59.6°

Start of totality: 48.1°

Maximum eclipse: 41.6°

End of totality: 35.0°

Moon leaves umbra: 22.9°

Moon leaves penumbra: 11.8°

Position Angles

Position angles, measured from the north point of the Moon's disk:

First contact of penumbra: 107.1°

First contact of umbra: 114.0°

Last contact of umbra: 256.9°

Last contact of penumbra: 263.7°

Moon in the Zenith

The Moon is in the zenith at the following geographical positions:

Moon enters penumbra: 23°53'N 084°00'W

Moon enters umbra: 23°50'N 099°31'W

Start of totality: 23°47'N 115°53'W

Maximum eclipse: 23°45'N 124°40'W

End of totality: 23°43'N 133°28'W

Moon leaves umbra: 23°39'N 149°49'W

Moon leaves penumbra: 23°36'N 165°18'W

Is the sky black. If so there's a good chance.

But if it is cloudy, no such luck.

Why don't you pop outside every half hour or so and check out the scene.

You do need to be motivated, otherwise you'll be sitting inside and it will be all over.

If the skies are clear, yes. It will begin about half an hour past midnight Monday night (Tuesday morning).