Total Lunar Eclipse of December 21, 2010
Near Total Lunar Eclipse
If you live in North America, you will have a great opportunity to see a total lunar eclipse on December 21, 2010. So get the coffee ready and plan on pulling an all nighter because you won’t want to miss this one!
On December 21, 2010 at 1:33 am Eastern Standard Time (EST) – 8:17 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) – the Moon will enter Earth’s penumbra or partial shadow. You will see the moon dim and begin to turn a reddish color. At 2:41 am EST, the Moon will enter the Earth’s umbra or full shadow. This is when the total lunar eclipse begins.
The total lunar eclipse will last until 3:53 am EST – which is over an hour of total eclipse viewing time! The show’s not over yet though because the Moon won’t pass completely out of Earth’s shadow until 5:01 am EST. Check out MrEclipse.com. This website has a great diagram of the event.
So why does a lunar eclipse occur? When the orbits of the Earth, Moon and Sun are lined up just right, the Moon will pass behind the Earth and enter the Earth’s shadow. The Earth’s shadow blocks out most of the light from the Sun and the Moon goes dark! Lunar eclipses always occur when there is a full moon.
Since the moon is traveling 2,300 miles per hour through the Earth’s shadow, the total eclipse can last up to 107 minutes. So…you’ll have plenty of time to see it and photograph it. If you get any great pictures of the event, send them to us and we’ll post them on the site.
UPDATE: Pictures of the eclipse have been posted and will continue to be posted as we recieve them! Check out our 2010 Winter Solstice Total Lunar Eclipse Review page!
Thank you all for your comments!
Southern Ontario Canada was clear and I was working midnights so I was able to see it from start to finish…
An awesome site and I wish I had a better camera…
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Even though there is another one in a few months? Lol
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Even though there is another one in 6 months?
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Was real cold out here in NY so every 15min i walked outside to see different pieces of the eclipse. Def was something to see. Good thing there is another one in June 2011
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[…] For a look at the image of the reddened moon in what a total lunar eclipse looks like, visit https://www.outerspaceuniverse.org/total-lunar-eclipse-of-december-21-2010.html […]
I wasn’t told about it, but when i walked out at 3 am i was truly amazed!! All clear here in MD.
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I’m an airline pilot and was flying at 38,000 feet at the time. I could see everything in the cleanest and clearest of air. It was amazing. Sorry for you guys who had cloud cover. Maybe next time…
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It was amazingly beautiful! Clear skies with the stars shining all around, It looked how I picture Mars looking if we could see it without a telescope. All-in-all a beautiful site to see.
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i am looking now at the lunar eclipse. very beautiful
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Greg - Staff Writer replied:
December 10th, 2011 at 10:35 am
Send us a picture! Thanks, Greg
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You have oevresbd very interesting details ! ps nice web site . “There’s always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved.” by W. Somerset Maugham.
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