(Image credit: Sky & Telescope / Akira Fujii, of the July 2000 lunar eclipse.)

For the final time this year, December 10th brings our skies a lunar eclipse. Remarkably, this is the last time we’ll have a total lunar eclipse until 2014! While Asia, Australia and eastern Europe get the best views, here on the United States’ west coast I’ll be catching the eclipse before dawn on Saturday morning: the colors are predicted to be spectacular. (But I’m definitely jealous of the views that the lucky inhabitants of Hawaii will be getting.) Will you be watching?

If you’re a landscape photography enthusiast, you won’t want to miss these tips, as combinations of the bright planets Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Mercury treat skywatchers all around the Earth.

But this treat is nothing compared to the treat that our southern-most inhabitants get: just two weeks prior they were treated to a near-total solar eclipse as well! (That’s why it was the best Black Friday ever.) These back-to-back eclipses are rare, but for those of us fortunate enough to be in the best viewing locations, one of the great natural treats of our world, accessible to everyone, with or without a telescope.

So check out this great and evolving collection of eclipse articles, and don’t forget to check back after the eclipse for the great collection of eclipse photos that’s sure to come!

-Ethan