Total Eclipse of the Moon, A Vancouver View

I’ve always loved looking up at the stars, especially when you get the chance to peer into a night’s sky when you’re out of the city. When I went to Courtenay with Keira a few weekends ago I sat in the back seat of the car from the ferry to her mom’s house just looking out the window and gazing up at the millions of twinkles I never see anymore from town.

Luckily for us city folk something will be happening tonight’s sky that we’ll all be able to enjoy – light pollution or not. From around 7:00pm until about 7:51pm PT folks all over North America will be able to walk outside of their houses, apartments and offices, look up, and witness a total eclipse of the moon.

Photo Credit: klh2 on Flickr

The space agency is predicting that “the moon will probably take on a vivid red or orange colour during the total phase” because there have not been any recent gas and dust emissions which block the sunlight and cause “dark” eclipses. [CBC]

It seems as though there are a lot of people who are really looking forward to this cosmic shadowing, heck there’s even a Facebook event setup for watchers. Instructions are to look 1 hour 20 minutes before and after to see the partial phases.

If you’ve scoped out an eclipse-watching site, feel free to share below (unless it’s top secret), and if you’ve got Flickr pics as it happens, drop a link in the comments – and let’s all hope it doesn’t rain.

Update: The first photo to come through on Flickr tonight, shot by Chris in who is in eastern British Columbia.

Update: Here’s another photo form Derek Miller [Flickr][Blog], who is in the Metro Vancouver area.