Dark Side of the Moon
For 50 minutes tomorrow night, the moon will be in totality. That is the portion of Wednesday night's 3.5-hour lunar eclipse during which the moon will be entirely engulfed in Earth's shadow. To pull off this celestial stunt, the Earth must line up directly between the sun and moon, thereby casting its shadow and eclipsing the lunar globe. As this happens, expect the moon to change to a light gray color, followed by a deep orange or red shade, before it regains its familiar luminosity. Whether this is a harbinger of things to come, I'll leave to the observer.
If you happen to be in the East Coast or Midwest regions of the U.S., you'll have the opportunity to view the eclipse from start to finish. The partial eclipse will begin at 7:43 p.m. Central Time, with the totality beginning at 9:01 p.m. Our friends out West won't have to stay up as late, but they'll miss the beginning of the eclipse on account of a later moonrise.
So set your clocks and grab your telescopes and binoculars. Even your trusty peepers will provide a stunning view. Prep the coffee, don your gloves, and pull up a chair. Above all, hope for clear skies. This isn't quite a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence, but almost. You won't get another chance to see heavenly action like this for nearly two years - when it comes around again in December, 2010.