Lunar eclipses are always special, but the one coming Monday night and into early Tuesday represents a real rarity: It will be the first time a total lunar eclipse coincides with the winter solstice in 372 years. And on top of that, the Ursid meteor shower, normally unremarkable, could put on a bit of a show while the eclipse darkens the night sky.
But you'll have to stay up late or get up early to see it all.
On the East Coast, the eclipse begins half an hour after midnight on Tuesday, Dec. 21. Out West, it starts around 9:30 p.m. PST Monday. Across the country, the whole eclipse will be observable before the moon sets in the west just as the sun is rising in the east. Maximum eclipse is at 3:17 a.m. EST/12:17 a.m. PST.
Watching an eclipse is easy. If the skies are clear, just go out and look up. The most compelling segments occur when the moon plunges into Earth's full shadow, called the umbra, and of course during the period of totality. See times of the 12 stages here. Depending on how much particulate matter is in our atmosphere, the moon may turn a deep orange or even blood-red during the eclipse.
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