Lunar Eclipses

The moon will be in partial eclipse on Thursday night, but don't expect a celestial show. John Mosley, an astronomer at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, said the moon will move only through the outer, or penumbral, part of the earth's shadow and will not darken noticeably. "Even with photographic or photometric equipment, it will be hard, if not impossible, to notice that an eclipse is happening," Mosley said. The partial eclipse will begin at 6:46 p.m.

Though better known for stars of the big screen than those in the sky, Los Angeles had more than its share of amateur astronomers Wednesday night as the city got its first good look at a lunar eclipse in years. More than 500 people from all over Los Angeles and Orange counties converged on Griffith Park to watch the eclipse through the observatory's 12-inch refracting telescope and through a dozen smaller telescopes set up on the lawn.

Sky gazers in Southern California and much of the rest of the planet will witness a total lunar eclipse tonight, weather permitting, as the moon orbits opposite the sun and makes a rare pass through Earth's shadow. Beginning at 6:21 p.m. PDT, the rising full moon will travel into the outer region of this shadow, called the penumbra, and to viewers in the eastern United States and much of the world it will appear that the normally white lunar surface gradually changes to orange or red.

There will be something for everybody in the nighttime sky during the next few weeks, including a meteor shower this weekend and a total eclipse of the moon next week. August will also bring the astronomical highlight of the year when the aging Voyager 2 spacecraft zips over the cloud tops of Neptune on the evening of Aug. 24.

Hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus expressed their fears during a lunar eclipse Sunday and then rejoiced at its end by plunging into India's holy rivers. The Press Trust of India said huge congregations of celebrating Hindus were seen at Varanasi and Allahabad, where the Ganges and Jamuna rivers merge. The Ganges and the Jamuna are Hinduism's holiest rivers.