By Alex Leff
Tico Times Staff | aleff@ticotimes.net

Skygazers could be in for a treat tonight when the last total lunar eclipse of the decade occurs, but the weather might spoil the spectacle.

“We're hoping to see the eclipse, weather permitting, because the weather has been really weird,” Alejandra León, executive director of Costa Rica's National Science and Technology Center (CIENTEC), said.

“It's awful, I don't know what's going on in February,” she said of this week's rainy and cloudy weather, a rarity for Costa Rican summers.

A full moon will appear at 5:33 p.m. and a partial eclipse is set to begin at 7:43 p.m., while the total eclipse will start at 9:01 p.m. and end at 9:51 p.m., according to the center.

An extra noticeable Saturn and the star Regulus are expected to add a shimmering spectacle on both sides of the eclipsed moon.

“Bring a telescope,” said Víctor Fung, member of the Costa Rican Astronomy Association, “to spot Saturn, just below the moon, and observe the ‘lord of the rings.'”

However, meteorologists predict cloudy and partly cloudy night skies through much of Costa Rica's Central Valley and Pacific and Caribbean coast.

But the sky will be clearer than it has been the last two days, according to Rebeca Morera, of the National Meteorological Institute (IMN).

In Morera's opinion, the northwestern province of Guanacaste could clear the sky's stage for the best lunar spectacle.

However, León and astronomy enthusiasts who signed up for her tour today are hoping that Punta Coral, away from the city lights in a private reserve of the Puntarenas province, will be the best place to see the show.

Last year there were two total lunar eclipses but Costa Ricans could only observe a slight part of them, according to León. The next one, said León, will not grace Central American skies until December 2010.

Lunar eclipses, with the Earth perfectly aligned between sun and moon, are safe to view with the naked eye.

Fung is excited. “A total eclipse of the moon is one of the most beautiful spectacles in the sky,” he said.

León agreed. “We think that (the moon) will get very coppery,” she said, adding that the color is easier to spot in videos or photographs than by the human eye.

León's explanation, complete with illustrations and charts mapping out the changes in color and shade of the moon, can be viewed on the CIENTEC's online bulletin at the Web site http://www.cientec.or.cr/mhonarc/boletincientec/doc/msg00565.shtml.