If you have missed it, you will have to wait for the next one until 2010. The eclipse has been visible from all locations in the United States, but in the Oregon and northern California coasts it coincided with the moon rise. And no special equipment was required for seeing this spectacle.
Total moon eclipses take place when the Earth and Moon are
perfectly aligned with the Sun during the full moon, the Earth shadowing its satellite. A maximum of three total lunar eclipses can take place yearly, but some years (like 2009) have none, that's why the next total Moon eclipse will take place on December 21st, 2010.
The moon does not completely disappear, as sunlight scatters around the edge of Earth's atmosphere and reaches the moon, inducing a glow like an eerie coppery-red disk around the Moon. As no recent volcanic eruptions have been registered on Earth, the moon's brightness was not dim. Still, varying on the local atmospheric conditions (like clouds), the moon's appearance has varied amongst various locations. On this occasion, the planet Saturn and the bright star Regulus formed a broad triangle with the moon's disk.
The moon entered Earth's shadow at 8:43 p.m. ET (in US, this meant 7:43 p.m. Central, 6:43 p.m. Mountain and 5:43 p.m. Pacific) yesterday, Wednesday, Feb. 20. An ever-larger bite swallowed the moon. In 78 minutes, the moon was totally shadowed. 51 minutes later, the moon started to emerge and got out of the shadow of the Earth at 12:09 a.m. ET (9:09 p.m. Pacific time). The moon was completely submerged in Earth's shadow from 10:01 to 10:51 p.m. ET.
This eclipse has been also visible in Europe, most of Africa, and western Asia. In these places, the eclipse has been a predawn Thursday event, which started at 1:43 Greenwich (Universal) Time. The celestial show has been visible throughout the Americas.
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