# Lunar eclipse tonight **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 20, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850 "2010-12-20T17:17:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/21 "2010-12-21T01:05:31Z")
Cloudy here, too. Rats! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/22 "2010-12-21T01:18:03Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Unless it’s visible from underwater, we won’t be able to see it here in LA. Maybe it will clear up by 9:30 tonight! (crossing fingers) ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/23 "2010-12-21T01:25:54Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > Maybe it will clear up by 9:30 tonight! (crossing fingers) You are a funny man. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/24 "2010-12-21T03:24:23Z")
Cloudy and crappy here tonight. I wasn’t planning on getting up in the middle of the night anyway. I’ve seen total lunar eclipses before. I’m holding out for a total solar eclipse. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/25 "2010-12-21T04:03:16Z")
> [@Ann\_Onimous](#): > > We’re having a family eclipse party! I’m waking the kids and my husband up and we’re going to drag our lawn chairs and blankets outside. I’ll make hot chocolate. I’d serve Moon Pies, but nobody likes them. That’s if we don’t have a lot of cloud cover. I will be dead tired for work tomorrow, but that’s a small price to pay for an incredible astronomy lesson! Jeebus, girl. I’ve got half a mind to run over there and see if y’all really do this. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/26 "2010-12-21T04:06:26Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I’m confused by the chart. I can’t see when Wisconsin will see the eclipse. > **[December 2010 lunar eclipse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2010_lunar_eclipse#Local_times)** > > A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Tuesday, 21 December 2010, with an umbral magnitude of 1.2576. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of E It starts at 11:27 our time. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/27 "2010-12-21T04:24:23Z")
Snowed out here. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/28 "2010-12-21T05:02:58Z")
I’m going to try and stay up but I don’t think I’m going to make it, and it’s just perfect here to see the entire eclipse! ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/29 "2010-12-21T05:45:09Z")
I have set up my cot on the sidewalk just outside my front door! Off too watch and try to take pictures. It’s 61 degrees! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/30 "2010-12-21T05:46:16Z")
A touch overcast, but the moon is pretty much visible, but it really hasnt started to do anything here yet, ill check in another hour. ---
**Author:** ![Turtledove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@Turtledove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turtledove)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/31 "2010-12-21T06:02:13Z")
Too bad…we have a huge cloud cover in Ky. I remember lying out viewing the stars with my Dad pointing out constellations to me. I was just a little kid, but I learned to love astronomy because of his example. You parents…go to it. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/32 "2010-12-21T06:03:52Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Jeebus, girl. I’ve got half a mind to run over there and see if y’all really do this. 🙂 Doesn’t look very promising, but we’re ready! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/33 "2010-12-21T06:25:09Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > but it really hasnt started to do anything here yet, ill check in another hour. Another ten minutes or so, and the moon will start to enter into the umbra. About 70 minutes after that it will start the period of full eclipse. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/34 "2010-12-21T06:37:04Z")
Curse the local news time mixup for getting my hopes up. The morning paper said the eclipse would start at 12:29. The radio this evening said it would start at 1:29. The skies were bright and clear at 12:30, but there was no eclipse. It’s now after 1:30 and everything’s clouded over. ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/35 "2010-12-21T06:37:32Z")
Yup, I can already see the shadow moving in. Also, who scheduled this thing in the winter? I demand a rerun in the spring! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/36 "2010-12-21T07:05:26Z")
Nice up here in Washington Heights, NYC. Directly overhead. The earth’s shadow is so much BIGGER than the moon’s disc. It’s like watching a dinner plate eating a coffee saucer. I have some halfway-decent pix (sufficient focus to see the lunar face, not enough to see individual craters and stuff), but not uploaded yet. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/37 "2010-12-21T07:15:43Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > The earth’s shadow is so much BIGGER than the moon’s disc. It’s like watching a dinner plate eating a coffee saucer. Aye. I’d never seen one before and expected it to look like the moon rapidly changing phases. Instead it’s more like it’s being edged out of existence. Nifty. If only I could find my binoculars. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/38 "2010-12-21T07:26:20Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Nice up here in Washington Heights, NYC. Directly overhead. Aye, great. Out east on Long Island I’d almost given up and been watching webcasts, but I did peek outside and it is clearing here too. So hope to see some totality. Since it’s not exactly central it’ll have a brighter side, like a chinese lantern. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/39 "2010-12-21T07:32:38Z")
East Coast here, with very little cloud cover. We’ve got almost total occlusion. This is cool! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850/40 "2010-12-21T07:38:50Z")
In England it’s getting under way just about at moonset. I can’t see it from my window, and I’m warm and comfortable enough to not care whether the moon has actually set now or if the Western horizon is cloudfree. Eclipses are cool, but I’ve seen 'em before. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-eclipse-tonight/564850.md?page=3)