So tonight we will see the only total lunar eclipse of 2008. Considering my sons recent fascination with the moon I really am wondering how I can let him see it. When you take into consideration we’ll have the total eclipse at approx 3am until 4am in the UK and we don’t own a video camera I think I’m stuck.

Theres so many things kids can learn from these kind of things the main problem is just how much do you think they can take in. It’s no use trying to explain the difference between prenumbra and umbra if your kids only 4 or 5 but if there that little bit older you might make some headway.

The two main things that kids might get from witnessing the eclipse is why the moon turns red and why it’s a circle that gradually eats away at the moon until it has gone.

The most obvious one to start with is the shape of the shadow as it takes a while before the moon starts to turn red. Thinking back to the times in history when it was thought that the earth was flat it must have been a confusing and scary thing to see happening in the night sky. You also have to think of those great scientists who started to question that belief and realised that what they were seeing was proof that the world was indeed round.

The matter of the reddish caste to the moon is one that took me quite a while to understand and believe. During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks most of the Sun’s light from reaching the Moon. If you were sitting on the moon you would see the Earth completely eclipse the Sun much like the diamond ring effect during a total solar eclipse. What they would see would be a bright red ring from all the sunrises and sunsets around the world. This colour comes from the indirect sunlight bouncing through the Earths atmosphere that can still reach the moon while its within Earth’s umbral shadow. The Earth’s atmosphere filters out most of the blue coloured light. and so the remaining light is a deep red or orange in colour and this is why the sky can turn red just before sunrise on Earth and just before sunset.

If your lucky enough to be in North and South America tonight get outside in the evening and take your kids with you. It’s always an amazing sight if the weather holds out for you.

Right this second many millions of miles from here the first orbital study of Mercury is going on. Now you may not think thats got much to do with parenting and i would have thought the same until today.

We had just returned from the hospital with our youngest (3rd) and I wandered to the shops with our second in tow only for him to start pointing over my shoulder shouting, “‘oon!” Now bearing in mind he’s not even two yet and to be honest I’m not entirely sure how many times he’s seen the moon as he’s usually all tucked up in bed by the time its out I was struggling to understand what it was he was trying to say. It was early in the afternoon after all. Sure enough I turned round and there it was high in the sky and my son had a huge grin on his face and it got me thinking. I wasn’t much older than him when I started wanting to be a spaceman when I grew up and I was 8 when I got my first telescope. Astronomy seems to be something that lights a spark in young kids minds and very few people seem to realise it until it’s to late I think.

During the 70’s the Mariner 10 space craft swooped around Mercury a few times but despite this we still have only seen 50% of the planets surface.

Until now that is. On the 14th January 2008 the Messenger space craft took this picture.

Trying to explain that this photo was taken from 270,000 miles away from Mercury doesn’t really phase a child. Telling them that the journey to the shops that you go on every day is one mile and they still won’t really get just how far away the planet is from the space craft. Tell them it would take walking to and from the shops for for over 700 years just to walk that distance and watch their face as they start to comprehend. Once that one sinks in try explaining just how many miles it is from Earth to Mercury! I’ve just had to explain why Pluto isn’t on the list of planets at the back of number 1 child’s homework diary but it’s on all our posters.

If the sky’s are clear tonight take your kids out and see if you can find mercury. Just after sunset you should just see it low on the horizon and explain to them just how we get there.