Earth to subdue moon's glow

Fans of the night sky are counting down toward one of nature's most alluring sights: a total eclipse of the moon, which will be visible throughout much of the world Wednesday night.

According to NASA, the total eclipse will be visible in North America, South America, Western Europe and Africa — that is, if clouds don't get in the way.

"Weather permitting, those at Wednesday's World Series game will be able to watch a total eclipse of the moon while watching the game," noted Patrick Wiggins, NASA Solar System Ambassador to Utah.

"Weather permitting" will be the operative phrase here, as well as in St. Louis' open-air stadium.

On Sunday, the National Weather Service forecast for Salt Lake City's weather Wednesday night called for rain, not an encouraging sign. But the forecast could change or the clouds could break for a few hours.

And even if the show is called on account of rain in the Beehive State, residents can still watch it live via the Internet.

Several organizations plan to carry live webcasts of the eclipse. To connect with one of these, point your browser at this NASA site: sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2004Oct28/TLE2004Oct28.html#webcast.

"The partial phase of the eclipse will begin at 7:14 p.m. MDT when the moon is still very low in the Eastern sky for observers here in Utah," Wiggins said. "But by 8:23 when totality begins it will be about a quarter of the way up the sky and well placed for viewing."

If storm clouds don't get in the way, the Salt Lake Astronomical Society will open its Harmons Observatory at Stansbury Park to the public. They may be especially eager to see Earth's shadow creep across the moon through telescopes since, according to Wiggins, this will be the last total eclipse to be visible from Utah for nearly three years.

For an hour and 22 minutes, he added, the moon will be fully immersed in the shadow of our planet. During this time it may assume a coppery or blood-red coloration. Other possibilities, according to NASA, include bright orange, dark brown or the much rarer dark gray.

That the moon can be seen at all during the total phase of an eclipse is due to sunlight reflecting from Earth and hitting the orb while it is overshadowed by Earth. Dust and smoke in our atmosphere absorbs much of the bluer parts of the sun's spectrum, making the resulting reflected light look reddish.