Getting ready for a total lunar eclipse

Having survived the total solar eclipse on April 20, we now get ready for a total lunar eclipse in the early morning of Saturday, April 4. This eclipse will not be like the last two, total in the early to mid-evening.

Totality for this eclipse won't start until 0419 MDT hours in the wee hours of the early morning, so it will be for early risers.

Another disappointing aspect of this eclipse -- totality will only last for a few minutes at most -- then it will set in the west before totality is over. The best views will be from the west coast of the US.

This eclipse is the third in the current set of four -- or a tetrad -- with two full moon total eclipses -- each year for two years in a row (2014 and 2015). Also, please don't start with any of that "Blood Moon" nonsense. There is nothing to it.

This eclipse will not be all that red anyway since it passes through the upper edges of Earth's shadow so the red color will not be all that prominent. There is nothing unusual about a four-eclipse tetrad, they are infrequent, but not all that rare.

Here is a challenge for all of you with even a small telescope -- even as small as four-inches -- put your scope field of view on the leading edge of the moon and look for the small galaxy NGC4697 near the center.

Keep watching because at about 0442 hours (give or take a few minutes) the moon will occult -- or cover it up -- the galaxy as it passes by in its orbit.

The galaxy should pop out on the other side of the eclipsed moon on the lower right side at about 0548 hours (give or take), or about an hour before it sets behind the western horizon. If you have the opportunity to view it, let me know at the e-mail listed above.

It would also be a good opportunity -- for those of you who are so inclined -- to get a good photograph as the galaxy either goes behind or pops out from behind the moon.

For those of you who like to mark your calendar ahead, circle the date of Wednesday, April 22, in anticipation of the early morning Lyrid meteor shower. The active dates for the shower are April 16-25, but the peak -- the most intensive part -- of the shower is the early morning hours before dawn on the 22nd.

There will be no pesky moon to get in the way, so find a good dark-sky location with a clear view of the south and east. We will be looking for our old friend, the constellation Lyre, the Harp, at the peak of the shower we could expect between 18-25 meteors per hour. More about that later.

SKYWATCH: First quarter moon, Friday, March 27. Bright Venus and very dim Mars are hanging low above the western horizon and can be seen about an hour after local sunset. Look high in the south for a meeting of just-passed first quarter moon, the planet Jupiter, and the M-44 star cluster -- otherwise known as the Beehive. Use binoculars to bring out the star cluster. Jupiter and the moon are just below it. On the next two nights, March 30-31, the moon appears on either side of and just below the bright star Regulus, the brightest star in Leo the Lion. Regulus is the point just below the backwards question mark that indicates his head and mane. Look for the triangle of stars marking his hindquarters just to the left. Next week those hindquarters will play an important part in finding Coma Berenices, or the Queen's Hair.

NEXT WEEK: How the queen's hair got caught in the lion's tail and more astronomical blathering.