Lunar Eclipse - September 27, 2015

Coming up on the evening of September 27th and morning of September 28th is a total lunar eclipse for residents in the eastern United States, South America, and western half of Europe and Africa.  A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is situated in a direct line between the Sun and the Moon, casting a shadow onto the Moon.

For residents in the eastern time zone of the United States, the partial eclipse begins around 9 PM with totality starting around 10 PM.  Totality ends near 11:30 PM and the partial eclipse ends around 12:30 AM.  It's a Sunday evening/Monday morning so it is a school night for kids.  I'm not sure how I'll handle this with my kids, but if they are in bed earlier, I may wake them up for a few minutes at 10 to see the total lunar eclipse.  Of course, for that to happen, the weather needs to work out which is always a big IF!  

I encourage you to mark this on your calendar and plan on observing it.  Lunar eclipses aren't all that rare, but it can be many months to a few years between eclipses.  It's all based on the geometry of the Earth-Sun-Moon system and your location on Earth.