By Zak Zeinert, Student Reporter

Students have the opportunity to witness a total lunar eclipse on Wednesday.

This will be the third total lunar eclipse in the past year and the last one until 2010. According to NASA’s lunar eclipse Web site, the eclipse will begin at 7:43 p.m. and end at 11:09 p.m.

Danielle Dozier, weekend meteorologist for KTXS News, said the eclipse will be visible in all of South America and most of North America. Europe, Africa and some of western Asia will also be able to witness the event, although for them the eclipse will take place early in the morning on Feb. 21.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when a full moon falls into the shadow of the Earth. In order for this to happen, the sun and the moon must be on either side of the Earth in a direct line.

The shadow of the Earth has two parts – the umbra and the penumbra. The umbra is the portion of the Earth’s shadow that contains no direct solar radiation. The penumbra is the outer portion of the Earth’s shadow that only partially blocks solar radiation.

A total lunar eclipse happens when the moon travels completely through the umbra. Due to the refraction of sunlight passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, the moon will not completely disappear; instead it will turn a dark shade of red or orange.

The weather forecast for Wednesday night is slightly cloudy with temperatures in the 40’s.

“Hopefully it won’t be too cloudy.” Dozier said. “But I think you should still be able to see it.”

Students wishing to observe the eclipse from campus can go to the observatory on the fourth floor of the Foster Science Building.

Lauryn Lewis, senior integrated marketing communication and English education major from Spring, is greatly anticipating the event.

“Supposedly these things are pretty rare; I love anything that has to do with the sky and moon. I’m sure it’s going to be beautiful, and I’m really excited about it,” Lewis said.