Our friend Bill Alderman in Donelson has informed us that you will be able to see both the space shuttle and the International Space Station tonight. Skies should be clear, so put on a jacket and enjoy the viewing.

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Debbie H. sends this shot of the lunar eclipse over Nashville around 8:30 tonight.

The celestial show was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds with some folks getting a better view than others.

The total eclipse continues until 9:51pm then you will see the moon reemerge from the earth’s shadow with partial eclipse ending at 11:09pm.

Enjoy… if you can brave the chilly night air.

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The timing of Wednesday evening’s total lunar eclipse is great for family viewing. During total eclipse Saturn and its rings and the bright star Regulus will flank the moon and really pop out of the sky!

Unfortunately, clouds will hamper viewing at times… especially for the southern half of middle Tennessee. I am hopeful we will have enough breaks from time to time to see some of it here in Nashville.

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The Quadrantid meteor shower occurs tonight. It’s supposed to be a good one, with 50+ meteors per hour.

The meteor shower peaks just after midnight, when our sky should be partly cloudy. Point your attention to the eastern sky, but bundle up. Temperatures will be very cold, in the lower 20s in the city and upper teens in the outlying areas.

More from SpaceWeather.com.

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If you have been outside this evening and noticed the “dot” next to the moon, it is Mars you are looking at. Ryan Edwards sent us this picture where you can see Mars to the lower right of the moon.

You can read more about it and other astronomical things at http://www.spaceweather.com/

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We received this picture from Steve Wheeler, a member of the Barnard Seyfert Astronomical Society. His description is below:

Friends -

You have probably heard of the naked eye comet now visible in the north eastern sky – comet 17P/Holmes.

17P/Holmes is a periodic comet in our solar system, discovered by the British amateur astronomer Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892. In late October 2007, the comet’s brightness abruptly increased by about a half-million times, with its apparent magnitude rising from 17 to 2.8 for easy naked-eye visibility (source: Wikipedia).

This image was taken through a 4” telescope (refractor) with a CCD camera specially designed for imaging through a telescope. A series of 15 second (comet) and 30 second (star field) images taken through red, green, and blue filters were combined to form the final image.

Steve Wheeler

Steve is a member of the Barnard Seyfert Astronomical Society. If you are interested, their next meeting is at the Adventure Science Center on Thursday November 15h at 7:30pm and will feature tips on buying a telescope.

There is also a good article on the comet at http://www.spaceweather.com/

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Here are some shots sent in this morning of the total eclipse. None sent in yet showing the moon in its total darkness; the sky was slightly overcast as the moon set in total eclipse ruining the view for many. This series was sent in by Jerry:

This picture sent in from Stacy showing the moon just before it went into totality around 4:52am.

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Graphic by Larry Koehn showing total lunar eclipse over Nashville just before sunrise.

Our good friend Larry Koehn informs us that there is a total eclipse of the moon tomorrow, but you will have to get up before sunrise to see it. The moon begins to become partially eclipsed at 3:51am, and is totally eclipsed from 4:52am to 6:22am. The sun rises at 6:15am cutting things short. Larry has a great animation that is being used by spaceweather.com, earth & sky.org, and Discovery Channel Australia (where it will occur in the evening). Check it out at:

http://www.shadowandsubstance.com/

Then scroll down to Nashville.

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Graphic by Larry Koehn showing total lunar eclipse over Nashville just before sunrise.

Our good friend Larry Koehn informs us that there is a total eclipse of the moon coming up, but you will have to get up before sunrise Tuesday morning to see it. The moon begins to become partially eclipsed at 3:51am, and is totally eclipsed from 4:52am to 6:22am. The sun rises at 6:15am cutting things short. Larry has a great animation that is being used by spaceweather.com, earth & sky.org, and Discovery Channel Australia (where it will occur in the evening). Check it out at:

http://www.shadowandsubstance.com/

Scroll down to Nashville.

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Jerry Overcast from Tullahoma sends this photo of the space station flyover tonight. It’s fun to keep up with sightings for your area.

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