There is an Lunar Eclipse to be aware of~~ Just wanted everyone to know so they can set their alarms... or stay up as the case may be...

LOS ANGELES – 'Twill be nights before Christmas and high overhead, the moon
will turn brown or maybe deep red. The Earth and the sun with celestial scripts
will conspire to make a lunar eclipse.

Weather permitting, sky gazers in North and Central America and a tiny sliver
of South America will boast the best seats to this year's only total eclipse of
the moon.

The eclipse will happen Monday night on the West Coast and during the wee
hours Tuesday on the East Coast. Western Europe will only see the start of the
spectacle while western Asia will catch the tail end.

[Manmade dazzle: Guides
to the best Christmas lights near you]

The moon is normally illuminated by the sun. During a total lunar eclipse, the full moon passes through the shadow
created by the Earth blocking the sun's light. Some indirect sunlight will still
manage to pierce through and give the moon a ghostly color.

Since the eclipse coincides with winter solstice, the moon will appear high
in the sky — a boon for skywatchers. With recent volcanic eruptions around the
globe dumping tons of dust into the atmosphere, scientists predict the moon may
appear darker than usual during the eclipse, glowing an eerie red or brown
instead of the usual orange-yellow tinge.

North and Central America should be able to view the entire show, which is
expected to last 3 1/2 hours if skies are clear. Total eclipse begins at 11:41
p.m. PST Monday or 2:41 a.m. EST Tuesday. The totality phase — when the moon is
entirely inside Earth's shadow — will last a little over an hour.

"It's perfectly placed so that all of North America can see it," said eclipse
expert Fred Espenak of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

The Griffith Observatory perched on the south slope of Mount Hollywood in Los
Angeles will host an eclipse party Monday evening although rain is forecast.
Telescopes will be set out on the lawn for the public and astronomers will give
free lectures on the eclipse's various stages.

If clouds or rain set in, the observatory plans to stream live video of the
eclipse from the Internet. Among the various outfits that will show the eclipse
live is NASA, which has a camera mounted at its Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Ala.

"Our event will go on rain or shine," said Griffith Observatory astronomer
Anthony Cook.

Unlike solar eclipses which require protective glasses, lunar eclipses are
safe to watch with the naked eye.

U.S. Naval Observatory spokesman Geoff Chester finds solar eclipses more
exciting than the lunar counterpart. But solar eclipses tend to occur in remote
parts of the world while lunar eclipses are usually visible from an entire
hemisphere.

"If you get skunked by bad weather, all you have to do is wait a few years
for the next one to come around," Chester said.

There are two total lunar eclipses in 2011 — in June and December. North
America will miss the June show and witness only a part of next December
eclipse.