The last time Marylanders saw a total eclipse of the moon, the Boston Red Sox were wrapping up their first World Series victory since 1918.
That first-ever "World Series Eclipse" was Oct. 27, 2004, and it was under way as the Sox completed their four-game sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis.
At sunset tomorrow, if the weather cooperates, we'll see another one, as the full March "Sap Moon" or "Crow Moon" rises over the eastern horizon about 6 p.m. It will already be in full eclipse - deep inside the northern half of the circular shadow Earth casts into space.
"Just like you and I cast a shadow on a bright, sunny day, the Earth is always casting a shadow. But you can't see it until something, this being the moon, passes through it," said Jim O'Leary, director of the Maryland Science Center's Davis Planetarium. "This a chance to see the Earth's shadow."
For observers in Maryland, the rising full moon will appear dimmer than usual as it climbs into the eastern sky. It may have an eerie, coppery color - a hue cast upon it by sunlight bent and filtered through Earth's atmosphere. The color can vary depending on how much volcanic dust and pollution is in the atmosphere.
If astronauts were watching from the moon's surface, they would look up and see the night side of the Earth as it slides in front of - and eclipses - the sun, leaving just a fiery ring of sunlight bent by the planet's slender envelope of air. All the gray lunar soil around them would be bathed in the odd, ochre light.
But for now, Earth is our only vantage point.
From the Science Center's rooftop observatory at the Inner Harbor's southwest corner, the darkened moon will appear to rise just to the right of the Marriott Waterfront Hotel.
In the dusky light at sunset, the dimmed moon may be hard to find, O'Leary said. "Until the sky gets dark, it could be a very dark eclipse."
Visitors to the observatory between 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. will have a variety of telescopes to choose from, he said.
Not far away, Baltimore's original "Streetcorner Astronomer," Herman Heyn, plans to set up his telescope on the Light Street promenade at Harborplace, weather permitting. But telescopes aren't a necessity.
"Both the naked eye and binoculars are fine for lunar eclipses," Heyn said. The eclipse will be visible anyplace on the East Coast where skies are clear and observers have a good view to the east.
