Hiding the moon: the total eclipse of Feb. 20February 08, 2008
The moon will enter the Earth's shadow, an event called a lunar
eclipse, on the evening of Wednesday, February 20, and Rowan
University is ready to give visitors a great view. The Edelman
Planetarium and the Department of Physics and Astronomy will co-
host a free public observing session that night at the Rowan
campus from 8 to 11 p.m. Starting at 8 p.m., experts will be on
hand to answer questions and operate telescopes on the roof of
Rowan's Science Hall to view the moon, Mars and Saturn. A free
short planetarium program will be given at the same time to
familiarize people with the evening sky. Lunar eclipses occur
when the moon's orbit carries it into the long shadow cast by
Earth. The moon does not turn completely black - a small amount
of sunlight is refracted inward by the Earth's atmosphere to
land on the lunar surface even during a total eclipse. The
totally eclipsed moon can vary from dark brick red to bright
orange, depending mostly on w