Total Eclipse of the Moon

For those of you who don’t know, last night was a total lunar eclipse. According to wikipedia, a total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes completely through the earth's shadow. This is called the umbral shadow. The moon took about an hour and 20 minutes to pass through the penumbral shadow before and after the total eclipse, during which the otherwise full moon may be mistaken as having a phase.

Apparently, the eclipse was visible in most parts of the world. Due to clouds and rain, it wasn’t visible from my house. There won’t be another one until December of 2010 but don’t worry. You can see the whole thing in the following video.

I don’t know about you, but I love eclipses and other similar events in space. I still remember the first one I saw when I was a child. I just couldn’t get enough of it. Luckily for me, we’re having another eclipse this year. August 1st we’ll have a total solar eclipse. I’m crossing my fingers for clear skies.

I wonder what kind of collectibles can be found relating to space. People have been interested in the cosmos since man first gazed at the sky. I’m sure some antique dealer out there has loads of telescopes from over the years. I bet I could even find some moon rocks for sale if I searched hard enough. It must be difficult to determine these antiques value though. I imagine moon rocks aren’t usually listed in an antique price guide. Some items are best left to the experts.

All of this space talk has gotten me in the mood for a good space movie. iTaggit user Sleeplessdave has a collectible copy of Apollo 13, which is my favorite space movie. What are your favorite movies concerning outer space?

by Jamie