moon

By Dr. Lisa Will, Resident Astronomer of the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center

For the first time in a decade, five planets are visible with the naked eye at the same time. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be together in the pre-dawn sky starting Wednesday, January 20, 2016.

By Dr. Lisa Will

Get ready! During the afternoon of Thursday, October 23, a partial solar eclipse will be visible from San Diego. Less than 50% of the Sun will be covered from our viewpoint in San Diego, but the quality of light outside should be noticeably different.

By Dr. Lisa Will

If you stay up past midnight on Tuesday, October 7, and into the wee hours of Wednesday, you might be lucky enough to see a total lunar eclipse.

The eclipse will start shortly after 1 a.m. and continue until sunrise. The Moon will be in partial eclipse for most of that time, with the total lunar eclipse occurring sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m.

Eclipse Viewing Information by Dr. Lisa Will, the Fleet's resident Astronomer

Night owl alert! We San Diegans should have a spectacular view of tonight's lunar eclipse if the clouds/marine layer stay away. The full moon will start passing into the darkest part of the Earth's shadow around 11 p.m. tonight. The total eclipse will begin around midnight and last until 1:30 a.m. The moon will fall completely out of the Earth's shadow around 3 a.m.