iPhone app tracks lunar eclipse

The last full lunar eclipse happened in February 2008.

(Credit: NASA TV)

If you're like me, you tend to forget to look at the sky when interesting things are happening. Tonight there will be a total lunar eclipse that will make the moon look red for 72 minutes, and I am hoping to catch it.

To help people see the show and learn about the event, Southern Stars is releasing the latest version of its SkySafari Lite iPhone app for free through December 21. The app correctly predicts when the eclipse will happen and displays it, along with additional information.

SkySafari Lite runs on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad and includes astronomy maps of the heavens and planets, using the internal compass of your device so you can point it up to the sky and it will tell you exactly what planets and constellations you are viewing.

This lunar eclipse is particularly interesting because it comes on the Winter Solstice. The last time that happened was 1638, and it won't happen again until 2094.