Planning to Watch the Lunar Eclipse?

Being a night person has its advantages on Monday—or Tuesday morning, if we're being technical—as the last eclipse of 2010 gets underway at 1:33 a.m.

This year's total lunar eclipse is also called the Christmas lunar eclipse, as it happens a few days before Christmas. It is expected to last three hours and 28 minutes tonight.

Although this is the second lunar eclipse of 2010, it is the first total lunar eclipse since Feb. 20, 2008. And, astonishingly, the last total lunar eclipse that occurred simultaneously with Winter Solstice, as it is tonight, last happened in the year 1638.

The last lunar eclipse of 2010 is especially well placed for observers throughout North America, according to NASA's eclipse website.

Eclipse times:

1:33 a.m. — partial eclipse begins

2:41 a.m. — total eclipse begins

3:17 a.m. — mid-eclipse

3:53 a.m. — total eclipse ends

5:01 a.m. — partial eclipse ends

The last eclipse this year happened on June 26, but it was nowhere near as vivid as tonight's is expected to be.

The color and brightness of the totally eclipsed moon, according to NASA, should be a dark eclipse because of Indonesia's Mount Merapi recent volcanic eruptions. Dark eclipses are caused by volcanic gas and dust that filter and block much of the sun's light from reaching the moon, according to the website.

When the moon is completely concealed by Earth, this is known to space experts as totality. Tonight's totality will last just slightly more than 72 minutes, something NASA officials says is "quite a bit longer than the last total lunar eclipse."

The total eclipse phase is going to be bright red and orange.

"The moon will be high in the sky, as close as it can ever be to straight overhead," says Doug Baum incoming president of Westchester Amateur Astronomers. "This will allow folks to view the eclipse from locations where trees and buildings may obstruct the horizon and lower portion of the sky. The moon will be moving gradually from the South West to the West."

Founded in 1991, the organization has members throughout the county, Rockland, Long Island and New York City.

And where can you catch a glimpse of the eclipse? According to Baum, a Pound Ridge resident, almost anywhere in the County will do.

"Some members of the Westchester Amateur Astronomers will be viewing the eclipse from Ward Pound Reservation, off Route 35 near Cross River in northern Westchester, but folks will be able to enjoy the view from most any location throughout Westchester," he says.