Wednesday's the night for the sky show

Wednesday night is the night -- for the total lunar eclipse that is. The eclipse party will start at about 6:30 p.m. MST at the southeast door of the Benkelman elementary school. Here we will discuss a little about what an eclipse is and then watch as the curved shadow of the Earth creeps across the lunar face.

That curved shadow was one way ancient astronomers surmised the Earth was round, the curved shape of the shadow on the moon during an eclipse.

For the faint of heart, hot chocolate and other goodies for the sustenance of body will be on hand.

One of the big questions of the evening is how red will the face of the moon get. Why red? Well, that is the color of the Earth's shadow. The atmosphere of the Earth not only bends the light into a cone shape (there are two of them actually), the dust in the air gives the shadow its characteristic red color. Too much dust, however, and the shadow can become as black as coal.

If we were astronauts standing on the surface of the moon during a "lunar" eclipse we would see a solid black Earth surrounded by a ring of red -- the world's sunrises and sunsets all taking place at the same time.

Come join the party, not only will we watch the eclipse but telescopes will be on hand to observe some of the other treasures of the sky.

This is the last total eclipse of the moon visible from the Americas until Dec. 20, 2010, and that eclipse will occur after midnight. Don't miss this prime-time event.

In other news, it won't be the sky itself that is falling (even though Chicken Little was convinced it was) it will be pieces of an out-of-control spy satellite which could come down as soon as late March.

The satellite, named USA 193, was launched in December 2006 but ground controllers were not able to activate it because the on-board computer failed soon after launch. As the old saying goes, what goes up must come down and USA 193 has started the process of coming down. Unfortunately there is no way to control exactly where or when the down part will be. Thus the concern.

Those who study such things say that since the Earth is two-thirds water there is a good chance it will come down in the ocean. That is all well and good, but what we may not realize is that this flying junk pile has been occasionally orbiting over our collective heads here in Southwest Nebraska and coming down is coming down whenever and where ever.

If you would like a chance to observe USA 193 before the U.S. Navy attempts to blast it out of the sky (the plan currently being formulated) be outside Wednesday night, Feb. 20 (you will be outside looking at the eclipse anyway) at about 5:38 p.m. MST (6:38 p.m. CST). Look to the Southwest; the satellite's small, glowing dot will travel quite near the Andromeda Galaxy, past Cassiopeia, and through the Big Dipper until it sets in the north-northeast. There may be a chance for another observation the next evening from 5:31 p.m. MST (6:31 CST) when it travels from west-southwest to the north-northeast.

Orbital times data for the satellite were obtained from www.heavens-above.com. You can go there yourself to trace future passes. Keep your eyes to the skies and your hard hats handy.

SKY WATCH:

Full moon and total lunar eclipse Wednesday, Feb. 20. The moon will be framed by Regulus, the heart of Leo the Lion, and Saturn. Look for Venus and tiny Mercury on the morning of Feb. 26 and 27 at about 5:30 in the morning in the southeast close to the horizon.

Next time:

More astronomical blathering.