Southland Gets Prime View of Eclipse

Unlike other places around the country, where clouds and rain obscured the view, the moon shone brightly--and disappeared right on schedule--over Southern California on Sunday night, treating sky-gazers to a spectacular lunar eclipse.

“For me, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime,” said Bob Brown, 74, of Yorba Linda, among a dozen amateur astronomers gathered at a Santa Ana park to witness the event.

Astronomers said Sunday’s total eclipse about 10 p.m. offered moon-watchers their best chance in at least 14 years to see the event.

“The moon is going inside the Earth’s shadow . . . Other than looking interesting, it’s not anything unusual,” deadpanned astronomer Marty Kapp on live TV as the moon turned a reddish hue.

Elsewhere on the West Coast, as around the country, eclipse-watchers were not so lucky.

In Chicago, the Adler Planetarium stayed open late for eclipse-related sky shows, but the evening sky was cloudy, obscuring all but the light of the moon.

In New York City, park rangers planned to escort eclipse-watchers from the Hayden Planetarium into chilly Central Park. In Utah, the Hansen Planetarium and the Salt Lake Astronomical Society invited the public to a free moon-watch at the society’s observatory in the desert southwest of Salt Lake City. But clouds covered the area as night fell.