Lunar Eclipse as seen from Round Rock, TX. Live blogging as it occurs...

Dad has informed me that there is a total lunar eclipse tonight so I"m going to stay up and watch it, and blog it as it goes. Cool idea huh? i'm a revolutionary I know...

3:35am
Apparently it's supposed to start at 4:30am EST, so in about 20 minutes or so. I'm just biding my time until that and then I will go to bed. i'm going to try to take some pics of it with my phone though. I already looked outside and it's a GREAT night for it! I'm at Mom and Dad's house in RR and there aren't any clouds in the sky and the moon is bright as all get out. Woohoo!

3:35am
I keep running outside to check on it. so far I can't tell if I'm seeing an eclipse or if it's just poor eyesite on my part, since my contacts aren't in.

3:53am
I am definately seeing some eclipseness now, just a little but it's there. I have discovered that binoculars are a great help to me!!! I've tried taking some pictures on my phone but all I get is a round fuzzy blurry white object that looks like nothing really...

4:10am
It's still eclipsing, covering more and more now.

4:15am
I just looked at the chart about the times and according to that I've still got about 30 minutes until the total eclipse starts (it's only going through te patrial eclipse now I guess) and a little more than an hour until mid-eclipse, it's the total eclipse and mid-eclipse I really want to see. I want a nap but I know I won't wake back up if I go to sleep, but i"ve been upsince 2:30 or 3am yesterday morning and it's now 4:15am...
Chart...
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2007Aug28/TLE2007Aug28.html

4:26am
Looks about half covered right now. The covered portion is a dark reddish-brown with the edges of the moon looking a little more orange-ish.

4:37am
I can see a definate difference in the shadows outside and the amount of moonlight visible on the ground.

4:44am
There's only a small sliver left that isn't eclipsed, still in partial eclipse according to the charts referenced above. Total eclipse should be starting in about 10 minutes and Mid-eclipse a little after that. It's pretty much completely dark outside now, kinda eery looking in a way. It's been crazy watching the changes to what you can and can't see in regards to how much moonlight there was before and now.

4:51am
Even tinier sliver of the moon left now. A little more than half of the moon appears a reddish-orange-ish color, about a third of it looks grayish, and that minute piece still looks visible. Total eclipse should be in about 1 minute or so.

4:57am
The moon is now in the total eclipse phase. There is still the barest sliver at the very bottom rim that still appears white, I don't know if this is due to the fact that we are still not to Mid eclipse yet or if it's b/c I'm in Central Texas and we aren't supposed to get the full view. At any rate, I'd say that 99% of it appears covered and it is all a reddish-orangeish color now, no more of the gray stuff. IT will also be interesting to see if the color of the moon will appear darker going towards mid eclipse. And I can't wait to see the eclipse fade, although depending on how long that takes I may fade (to sleep) right along with it...

5:07am
I can't really see much of a difference now in color anymore, does look a TAD darker, and the sliver at the bottom is fading. I feel like I have permanent binocular rings attached to my eye sockets...

5:15am
Definately darker in color now. It's kinda cool seeing how all around the outside edge of the moon is a different color than the inside. Still another 22 minutes until mid-eclipse.

5:26am
Still darker yet. The moon is also going lower in the sky, we've had to move to a different watching spot from where I've been the whole night. Dad found a constellation we've not seen before, labeled it the "Baby Dipper".

5:36am
1 minute to mid-eclipse... still darker and when you look outside, it's not glaringly obvious where the moon is... obviously.

5:37am
Mid-eclipse. It looks incredible!!! It's completely eclipsed now, i myself can't see that any part of it still appears white, and there is no moonlight outside that's noticeable. The whole moon is a dark reddish-orangeish, the darkest it's looked yet (of course) except for a small little piece at the bottom that's not quite as dark as the rest of it.
Now let's see how long I can last coming out of the eclipse. I'm sooo tired. LOL

5:54am
Not too much change, although one part of the edge does appear to be getting lighter in color again. It's been so neat watching all this happen. Wish I could've gotten some good pics though.
I don't think I can stay awaketo keep going outside every few minutes, my eyeballs are burning, but I will sleep in the living room andhopefully wake up every once in a while and see some of the changes. If I do, I'll post a new blog about the fading of the eclipse, or just edit this one appropriately. Anyways, I'm tired! THis has been pretty cool though, and I think I would like very much to go into space and set foot on the Moon myself... guess I inherit that from "Papa's People" as Mom would say... :)