Truckers Sit Tight, 
Wait Out The Storm

Mission Into Somalia Is A Welcome Move

By LISA SCHEID; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Thursday, December 10, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1D QUICK WORDS: LUNAR ECLIPSE URBAN
MOON 





LEHMAN TWP. -- Kimberly Rose Urban was so excited about the eclipsing moon,
she could practically taste it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I got excited when I looked up into the sky," the 9-year-old Dallas girl
said as she peered through an opening in the Penn State Wilkes-Barre Friedman
Observatory. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "It looked like a big cookie with someone taking a bite out of it," she
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Urban, a regular at the observatory, joined dozens of area adults and
children who gazed through the school's new 14-inch telescope as the Earth's
shadow gobbled the moon until it was but a silver smudge in the night's
jeweled curtain. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The eclipse, which to ancient people signaled the end of the world, opened
a new one for Wednesday's observers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Eerie," is how many of those amateur astronomers described the moonless
sky minutes after 6 p.m. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A lunar eclipse happens when the earth passes between the sun and moon,
casting its shadow on the moon. The moon then appears to have a reddish glow. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If a reddish moon is like a rare hamburger, then Wednesday night's eclipse
that looked black to the naked eye was "well-done," said Walter Bennett, who
teaches astronomy at Penn State. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're really lucky tonight because it's so clear." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bennett, who is also the superintendent of the Mt. Wilson observatory in
California, said volcanic ash in the Earth's atmosphere absorbed most of the
light. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It looks like a polar cap on Mars," Bennett said as the final curved
sliver grew darker. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A brief silence fell over the observatory when Bennett said the moon
appeared totally eclipsed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It looks like a ball just laying out there," said Marie Lacek to her
8-year-old son, Gaise, who wandered about the round observatory tucked under a
red cap. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Harveys Lake boy said the craters of the moon were visible through the
telescope. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Through the instrument, the totally eclipsed moon looked gray. Neighboring
stars became observable since the Earth's shadow had darkened the moon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Five-year-old Jason Jolley climbed the ladder next to the telescope twice
to peer at the moon and the stars. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I never saw an eclipse before," the Dallas boy said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 No wonder. The last complete lunar eclipse, observable in Northeastern
Pennsylvania, happened in February 1986, before he was born. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The experience was special even for the experienced star-gazer, Kimberly
Rose Urban, who said her favorite constellation is Pegasus. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "My brother Richard -- he's 22-months-old --looked at it," Urban said. "At
first I wasn't sure if he saw it, but then he looked again."

Moonstruck Psu Telescope Gives Eclipse-watchers A Treat