Eclipse

As the tropical sun blazed overhead, Curtis Roelle stood surrounded by his cameras and telescopes in the cactus garden near a Mexican beach and watched the cone-shaped shadow of the moon sweep toward him at more than a mile a second.Tonight at 8 p.m., Mr. Roelle, 33, will show a series of slides he snapped of the spectacular total solar eclipse July 11, making him the first amateur astronomer to give a talk at the monthly open house staged by the Space Telescope Science Institute.The droll and seemingly unflappable computer engineer, who lives in Westminster, admits being a bit awe-struck, but he nevertheless took a series of crisp pictures of the event, the longest total eclipse expected until 2132.

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.

Expect few surprises when the Eclipse Awards are announced tomorrow.Winners in all categories, except Horse of the Year, will be named during the half-hour "Daily Racing Form Thoroughbred Digest" on ESPN at 6 p.m.The awards will actually be presented at the annual convention of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations in Los Angeles on Friday night at the Century Plaza Hotel.The Horse of the Year will be announced at that ceremony and the entire program will be shown on a tape-delay basis next Sunday from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Some people would travel any distance for a dip of TCBY yogurt. Chris Roelle has different priorities -- he'd go halfway around the worldto watch an eclipse.As a matter of fact, Roelle, president of the Westminster Astronomical Society, has done exactly that. In 1979, he scaled a 14,000-foot mountain in Peru to view a total solar eclipse.In 1984, when weather altered his original plan to observe a solar eclipse from Assateague Island, he set off in hot pursuit of the best viewing position, ending up in North Carolina.

The list of top horses and jockeys announced last week as finalists for a 1992 Eclipse Award included only one contender with a Maryland connection.It is 19-year-old Freddy Castillo, the leading apprentice at Laurel Race Course and sixth-ranked jockey in the overall standings.But when the Eclipse Awards are announced on ESPN (on The Daily Racing Form's "Thoroughbred Digest" Feb. 1), the winner in the apprentice category is expected to be Florida-based Jesus Bracho and not Castillo.Castillo earned enough votes to place him among the top three apprentices in the nation, but he ranks third behind Bracho and Rosemary Homeister in both earnings and number of winners, according to statistics compiled by The Daily Racing Form.

Invoking the magic of celestial mechanics, Santa Claus will conjure up a holiday bonus for nearly everyone in North America this year - a partial eclipse of the sun on Christmas Day. The Christmas eclipse - the first since 1954 and the last until the 24th century - will darken more than 54 percent of the sun's diameter as seen from Baltimore. Unless you're looking for it, you're not likely to notice anything of this Yule eclipse. Too little of the sun's energy will be blocked to cause any noticeable dimming of the light or cooling of temperatures.

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."

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.

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.

It's been nearly two years since Marylanders had their last opportunity to watch a total eclipse of the moon from start to finish. But at the end of 2010, they'll finally get another chance. The stargazers' calendar for 2010 shows the lunar eclipse on Dec. 21 - when the moon slides through the Earth's shadow - will be total from 2:40 a.m. until almost 4 a.m. It's not a convenient hour on any day, and especially taxing when it's cold and you have to work the next day. But if skies are clear, it will be well worth stepping outside to catch at least a few moments of the show.