For the second time this year, Colorado skywatchers will be treated to a total eclipse of the moon, according to experts at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Sommers-Bausch Observatory and Fiske Planetarium.
The total lunar eclipse will occur in the twilight hours of Saturday, Nov. 8, when at about 6 p.m. the moon will be totally eclipsed. The total eclipse will last less than 30 minutes.
Sommers-Bausch Observatory at CU-Boulder will be open to the public from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for eclipse viewing. Visitors will be invited to use the observatory's large and small telescopes to watch the eclipse progress. Also on Nov. 8, Fiske Planetarium will present a live talk about eclipses at 4 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m.
Admission to the observatory to view the eclipse is free. Admission for the live shows at Fiske Planetarium is $5 for adults, $4 for students and $3 for children and seniors.
The eclipse will begin when the moon enters the Earth's shadow. People in Colorado will first be able to see the moon at about 5 p.m., at which point it will already be partially eclipsed, according to Doug Duncan, director of CU-Boulder's Fiske Planetarium and Sommers-Bausch Observatory.
"The shadow of the Earth has a really dark part and a light part," Duncan said. "The dark part of the shadow is what you will most notice as it moves across the moon."
He explained that most of the sunlight is blocked out by the Earth's shadow, but some light "leaks" around the rim of the Earth and still manages to fall on the moon, giving it the unusual blood-red or orange color seen during a lunar eclipse. The blue light scatters in Earth's atmosphere and makes the sky blue, he said, while the red light continues to the moon.
"So if your friends ask you why the moon is red, you can tell them it's because the sky is blue," Duncan said.
Exactly how dark and colorful the moon appears varies from eclipse to eclipse, Duncan said. "But they always look really eerie, and they're wonderful things to see."
For more information call (303) 492-5002 or visit the planetarium's Web site at or the observatory's Web site at .