Lunar Eclipse Visible Early Tuesday

Early risers across Oklahoma on Tuesday will get the opportunity to view a total lunar eclipse as the Earth's shadow creeps across the moon's surface. This lunar eclipse is the second one this

Monday, August 27th 2007, 9:46 am

By: News On 6

Early risers across Oklahoma on Tuesday will get the opportunity to view a total lunar eclipse as the Earth's shadow creeps across the moon's surface. This lunar eclipse is the second one this year and will be visible across most of the U.S.

An eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's light. It is rare because the moon is usually either above or below the plane of Earth's orbit.

Since the Earth is bigger than the moon, the process of the Earth's shadow taking a bigger and bigger ``bite'' out of the moon, totally eclipsing it before the shadow recedes, lasts about 3 1/2 hours, said Doug Duncan, director of the University of Colorado's Fiske Planetarium.

In Oklahoma, the lunar eclipse begins at 3:51 a.m. and ends at 7:24 a.m.

The total eclipse phase, in which the moon has an orange or reddish glow, lasts about 1 1/2 hours. During the full eclipse, the moon will not be completely dark because some light still reaches it around the edges of the Earth.

The next total lunar eclipse occurs on February 21, 2008.

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