Free Republic

A music video of an older partial eclipse videoed from my backyard. The clouds act as a scrim for viewing.

On Nov. 19, a partial lunar eclipse will reward patient sky observers with a view of a subtly changing moon and is a must-see event as it's the last lunar eclipse of the year. The moon may even take on a reddish hue. Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes into the Earth's shadow. In this case, the partial eclipse phase will last 3 hours, 28 minutes and 24 seconds, and the full eclipse for 6 hours and 1 minute, making it the longest partial eclipse in 580 years, according to Indiana's Holcomb Observatory. At maximum eclipse, the moon's face...

The sun is the epitome of contrast: When the sun rises or sets, it's the "difference between night and day." Night is banished at daybreak and re-established soon after the sun sets. At least, that's usually the case. Every 18 months or so and always on a new moon, there is somewhere on the planet where the sun becomes totally eclipsed when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. There can be multiple, up to five, solar eclipses in a year -- though a total eclipse only recurs on any specific point on Earth every 360 or 410...