Eclipse

You say the economy's in the tank, your credit card's maxed out, and you can't afford a movie ticket, much less a Wii? Well, lift your head up high! Go ahead, look up! The new year holds in store all kinds of celestial entertainment for Maryland stargazers. And they're all free. There are spectacular moonrises and moonsets, a string of promising meteor showers and planetary conjunctions rivaling the Dec. 1 triple conjunction of the moon, Venus and Jupiter. We do seem to be in a sort of "eclipse recession," however.

Invasor was named 2006 Horse of the Year at last night's 36th Eclipse Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, Calif. Preakness winner Bernardini won 3-Year-Old Male of the Year. Roy and Gretchen Jackson of Lael Stables, who campaigned 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, shared Owner of the Year honors with Darley Stable, which owns Bernardini. Edgar Prado, who spent most of his career riding in Maryland before moving to New York in 1999, earned the Eclipse as the top jockey. Prado, 39, rode Barbaro and is credited with helping to save the horse's life when Barbaro took a catastrophic misstep and broke his leg in the early moments of the Preakness.

Holly Mahan scored a career-high 26 points and had eight rebounds to lead Towson (5-3) to its third win in the past four games, 69-61, over UMBC at the Towson Center last night. It was the Tigers' fourth straight win over the Retrievers (4-7) and extended their lead in the series to 31-11. Mahan made eight of 14 shots from the field, including four of nine from three-point range. She also made all six of her free-throw attempts and had a game-high six steals. Bowling Green 62, Mount St. Mary's 59 -- Tiffany Green had 16 points in a losing effort for the host Mount (1-8)

Furniture for petsPets may be less reluctant to stay off your furniture if they have their own. In fact, the chaises, sofas and daybeds from Nebraska designer Carol Copple (above) may make you a bit jealous of Fido or Fluffy as they lounge on fashionable leopard- or floral-print cushions.The furniture from Beastly Furnishings comes in three sizes: small, for animals up to 20 pounds; medium, for animals up to 40 pounds; and large, for animals up to 60 pounds. Prices range from $410 to $540.

It's too late to jet off to France or Iraq to join the millions gathering to watch tomorrow's total eclipse of the sun. But it's not too late to watch from home.Early-rising Marylanders might be able to witness the early minutes of the event, visible here briefly at dawn as a partial eclipse, weather permitting.Better still, live images of the Great European Eclipse of 1999 are scheduled to air during the morning on cable TV and on elaborate Internet "Webcasts.""This may be one of the most-viewed eclipses ever," said Jim O'Leary, director of the Maryland Science Center's Davis Planetarium.

SERROE COLORADO, Aruba -- Most people never have the chance to see a total solar eclipse, which occurs in any given location about once every 300 years."

Astronomers are asking Marylanders with video cameras to help them study the eclipse of a bright star early tomorrow morning.At 3: 17 a.m., as seen from Baltimore (a bit earlier south of the city), the sunlit, upper-left-hand edge of the moon's disc will pass in front of a star called Aldebaran. Twenty-six minutes later, at 3: 43 a.m., the star will pop back into view on the darkened upper-right-hand edge of the moon.It's called an "occultation," and it's the second lunar occultation of Aldebaran this year.

NABUSIMAKE, Colombia -- Rosina Salabata tentatively holds a strip of camera film over her eyes and looks up into the sky. Then she whips it off and ducks back under the thatch roof overhanging the stone walls of her hut."What is that that's eating the sun?" she asks in her native Arhuaco tongue.Informed that it is an eclipse, and that the moon is passing across the sun, Salabata nods. The "mamos," or priests, had told her about this. They had said she should not look at it. But they had not explained how it happens.

The Caribbean breezes and pina coladas were beckoning. But Williams College astronomer Jay Pasachoff was holed up in his rented condominium, preparing for his race with the moon.At precisely 1: 09: 45 p.m. EST tomorrow, the moon will move directly in front of the sun as seen from Aruba, in the next-to-last total solar eclipse of the century.The eclipse will be partial in Baltimore, with little noticeable dimming of the sun's light. But on Aruba, the only things shining overhead will be a few stars and the shimmering halo of the sun's outer atmosphere, or corona.

For the bold stroke of her pen on checks worth nearly half a million dollars, Carolyn Hine won an Eclipse Award yesterday as horse racing's Owner of the Year.A native of Baltimore, Hine wrote checks for $480,000 to supplement Skip Away to the $4.4 million Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Hollywood Park. For his electrifying performance in the Classic at the end of a gritty year, Skip Away also won an Eclipse as outstanding older horse."I'm extremely happy and proud and honored," said Hine, who grew up in a Highlandtown apartment above the family business, Seaman's furniture store.

Will Barrymore direct 'Eclipse'? She starred as a buddy to that lovable alien E.T., but does Drew Barrymore have what it takes to direct vampires? The 34-year-old actress has confirmed that she's being considered for Eclipse, the third movie in the blockbuster teen vamp saga that launched with Twilight last year. "I'm one of the directors that is being talked about, which is great, because I'm a director now," Barrymore said in a recent interview. "But, you know, they'll make their choice."

You say the economy's in the tank, your credit card's maxed out, and you can't afford a movie ticket, much less a Wii? Well, lift your head up high! Go ahead, look up! The new year holds in store all kinds of celestial entertainment for Maryland stargazers. And they're all free. There are spectacular moonrises and moonsets, a string of promising meteor showers and planetary conjunctions rivaling the Dec. 1 triple conjunction of the moon, Venus and Jupiter. We do seem to be in a sort of "eclipse recession," however.

We can't see it from here, but there is a total eclipse of the sun early tomorrow morning. The path will sweep from Canada's arctic territory of Nunavut, across northern Greenland and Siberia, into Mongolia and China. The eclipse begins at 5:21 a.m. EDT and ends at 7:21 a.m. NASA TV will cover it live from China ( www.nasa.gov/eclipse), beginning at 6 a.m. EDT. The total eclipse there occurs at 7:08 a.m. EDT. Biggest audience under the moon's shadow? Xian, China, population 3.9 million.

Stargazers are worried about the weather forecast, but if the clouds part in time, Marylanders will get a good look at tonight's total eclipse of the moon - the last one visible here or anywhere until December 2010. "Baltimore has experienced bad weather for the last few lunar eclipses," said Herman Heyn, Baltimore's original "Streetcorner Astronomer." Both of last year's eclipses were clouded-out here, but if the heavens are visible, Heyn plans to set up at 9 o'clock tonight in the 3100 block of St. Paul St. in Charles Village.

Marylanders will have plenty of reasons to step outdoors during 2008 and find a dark spot where they can gaze into the night sky. The new year brings the first total eclipse of the moon, visible here from start to finish during evening hours, since October 2004. The new year also promises two total eclipses of the sun, but you'll need plenty of dough and vacation time: The first occurs Feb. 7 and is visible south of Australia, and the second Aug. 1 visible in Siberia and China. Even so, if skies are clear, we can stay home in 2008 and witness several beautiful and brilliant pairings of Jupiter with Venus.

Holly Mahan scored a career-high 26 points and had eight rebounds to lead Towson (5-3) to its third win in the past four games, 69-61, over UMBC at the Towson Center last night. It was the Tigers' fourth straight win over the Retrievers (4-7) and extended their lead in the series to 31-11. Mahan made eight of 14 shots from the field, including four of nine from three-point range. She also made all six of her free-throw attempts and had a game-high six steals. Bowling Green 62, Mount St. Mary's 59 -- Tiffany Green had 16 points in a losing effort for the host Mount (1-8)

INSIDE TODAY WHAT THEY'RE SAYING TODAY'S SUN COLUMNISTS Riding on quarterbacks After nearly four decades of coaching, and his team's season opener just three days away, Maryland's Ralph Friedgen can't predict how his team might fare. A lot will surely depend on what he gets out of his quarterbacks. 5 THINGS TO LOOK FOR @BALTIMORESUN.COM Preseason finale Get updates as the Ravens practice for Friday's preseason finale at Atlanta.baltimoresun.com/ravenscentral BRAC Meeting The governor's subcabinet for the military base re-alignment and closure meets in Baltimore County.

MOONSTRUCK Gaze at the sky for a nighttime viewing session and learn about the coming lunar eclipse at the Soldier's Delight Star Gazing event Saturday in Owings Mills. People from the Night Sky Networks' Eclipses and Shadows program will talk astronomy and explain to visitors how and why the Aug. 28 lunar eclipse will happen. The program, which is presented by the Westminster Astronomical Society, takes place rain or shine. .................... Event runs 8 p.m.-11 p.m. Saturday at Soldier's Delight Nature Center, 5100 Deer Park Road, Owings Mills.

Egad! My response last week to Fred Carcress of Catonsville, who asked about the next lunar eclipse, was wrong by 12 hours. Yank that one off the fridge and tear it up. Here's the real deal, I promise: The next total eclipse of the moon visible from Maryland begins at 4:50 A.M. on Aug. 28. The full moon will move deep into the Earth's shadow, but the show ends in mid-eclipse when the MOON sets here at 5:34 a.m. Thanks to all who set me straight.

Fred Carcress of Catonsville is planning his eclipse-viewing for the rest of 2007. He writes, "We had a lunar eclipse recently. However, I heard that we were having another one later this year. Is that true?" Yes, thankfully, since the March 3 eclipse was mostly clouded out here. The next one begins at 4:50 p.m. Aug. 28. The full moon will move deeper into the Earth's shadow and grow darker than in March. The show will end in mid-eclipse, when the sun sets here at 7:44 p.m.