Eclipse illustrates state's underutilized natural resource

Don't know if you were up in time to enjoy the setting full moon this morning, but if you were, you know it was a beautiful sight.

Weather permitting, you'll have a chance for an even more spectacular sight Saturday, as the moon goes into eclipse just as it is setting.

Folks on the East Coast won't get to see all of it because the sun will already be up, but they will see the beginning, at 6:16 EDT, 5:16 CDT and 4:16 MDT.

West of the Mississippi, we should be able to see a total eclipse, at 6:58 a.m., lasting less than five minutes.

If it turns out to be cloudy, you can watch a live stream at http://bit.ly/1DuFyOi on the Slooh Community Observatory.

Much is being made of the "blood moon" aspect of the eclipse, but our astronomy columnist, Vernon Whetstone says it won't be all that red when it passes through totality.

Montana is the Big Sky Country, but we think Nebraska's skies are an underutilized resource.

Yes, we do host the Nebraska Star Party near Merritt Reservoir in the isolated sandhills -- it's July 12-17 this year, find out more at http://www.nebraskastarparty.org/.

But more of our wide-open spaces could be used for amateur astronomers who want to explore the heavens. And, we'd like to see more action to protect our relatively pristine skies from the light pollution that overwhelms the moon, planets and stars when viewed from major cities.

Perhaps a "star tour" could supplement ongoing tourism efforts like those that attract bird watchers to see sandhill cranes and prairie chickens.