Rapper Flavor Flav must attend counseling sessions after pleading guilty to lesser charges on Monday in a Las Vegas domestic violence case in which he threatened his longtime girlfriend's son with a knife in 2012, court officials said.
The member of the hip hop group Public Enemy whose legal name is William Drayton Jr was given a one-year suspended sentence alongside the 12 family counseling sessions, Clark County District Court spokeswoman Mary Ann Price said.
Frank Eltman / AP
Rapper Flavor Flav was given a one-year suspended sentence and must attend 12 family counseling sessions.
Drayton, 55, pleaded guilty to misdemeanors attempted battery with substantial bodily harm and battery constituting domestic violence, Clark County District Attorney spokeswoman Tess Driver said.
Best known for his trademark clock necklace and eccentric personality, the rapper was charged with felony assault and child endangerment after his October 2012 arrest. Authorities said he fought with longtime girlfriend Liz Trujillo and threatened her teenage son with a knife at a residence about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southwest of the Las Vegas Strip.
Drayton was not sentenced to formal probation, but he could serve jail time if he fails to complete the court-ordered counseling sessions with Trujillo's son, Price said.
The rapper's attorney, Kristina Wildeveld, said the plea deal was crafted to spare Drayton from having a felony crime on his record.
"We came to an agreement that was acceptable to everyone," Wildeveld said. "Flav never had a felony. He never wanted to have a felony."
Wildeveld said Drayton, who also faces a case involving speeding and driving without a license in New York, has already satisfied a couples counseling requirement the court would have ordered by appearing on the cable TV reality show "Couples Therapy" in 2013.
The attorney said Drayton was currently co-parenting with Trujillo, but declined to say if they were in a relationship. They have a young son together named Karma.
Drayton, who is originally from New York's Long Island, rose to prominence in the late 1980s with the politically charged and socially conscious hip hop group Public Enemy.
In recent years, Drayton's public profile rose as a reality TV personality on series such as "The Surreal Life," "Strange Love" and "Flavor of Love."
"},{"type":"p","html":"Lane was in the U.S. to play baseball and study at East Central University in Ada."},{"type":"p","html":"Chancey Allen Luna, 16, was charged with first-degree murder and Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, was charged with being an accessory after the fact and to having fired a weapon. A third teenager faces lesser charges after he turned state's evidence in February."},{"type":"p","html":"According to an affidavit obtained by NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City, Barnes became involved "by concealing a .22 caliber revolver, the weapon used in the shooting death of Christopher Lane.""},{"type":"p","html":"All defendants and their lawyers are under a gag order, but police said at the time of the initial arrests that the teenagers were "bored and didn't have anything to do," so they "decided to kill somebody.""},{"type":"p","html":"— M. Alex Johnson"}],"summary":"A 22-year-old man is accused of being an accessory to first-degree murder for allegedly hiding the gun used to kill Christopher Lane in Oklahoma last year.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":{"caption":"Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, Australia, was shot to death in August while jogging in Oklahoma.","url":"http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323511/8c8756864-g-cvr-130820-lane-okla-530a-nbcnews-ux-720-520_bbd869dad7b01dc5adcc6ed6860a1c26.jpg","credit":"Essendon Baseball Club via AP file","source":null,"alt_text":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane","width":640,"height":480,"title":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane"},"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player-n80361","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1p4yosA","title_url_slug":"fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player-n80361","type":"post","headline":"Fourth Person Charged in Slaying of College Baseball Player","headline_cover":"Fourth Person Charged in Infamous 'Boredom' Killing ","headline_slug":"fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player","bylines":[],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-14 22:58:03 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 04:29:14 Z","sections":[{"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"topics":[{"title":"Crime & Courts","slug":"crime-courts"},{"title":"U.S. news","slug":"us-news"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/80361","externalId":"80361","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, Australia, was shot to death in August while jogging in Oklahoma.","url":"http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323511/8c8756864-g-cvr-130820-lane-okla-530a-nbcnews-ux-720-520_bbd869dad7b01dc5adcc6ed6860a1c26.jpg","credit":"Essendon Baseball Club via AP file","source":null,"alt_text":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane","width":640,"height":480,"title":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane"}},{"body":[{"type":"p","html":"An X-Box, a Nintendo Wii and a Sony Playstation, along with dozens of games and gaming paraphernalia, an iPod, an iPad and three computers were taken from the home of the Pennsylvania high school stabbing suspect, according to an affidavit released Monday."},{"type":"p","html":"But the most ominous thing on the list is a common kitchen item: A Chicago Cutlery wooden block knife holder with two knives missing."},{"type":"p","html":"The items were all taken Wednesday from the home of suspect Alex Hribal's parents after Westmoreland County detectives obtained a search warrant directly after the 7 a.m. stabbing."},{"type":"p","html":"Hribal, 16, is charged as an adult with four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault following a brutal stabbing spree of 21 students and a security guard as a suburban Pittsburgh high school."},{"type":"p","html":"The suspect was allegedly holding two knives in the attack."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"widget","widget_type":"inline-video","videoType":"Broadcast","mpxId":"222810179933","guid":"nn_01_stabbing_140410","pubDate":"2014-04-10 23:23:40 Z","expirationDate":"9999-12-31 23:59:59 Z","playbackIsDisabled":false,"availabilityState":"available","title":"School Stabbing: First Responders' Horrifying Moments","description":"Investigators are still trying to determine what might have sparked t he rampage that injured 22.","thumbnail":"http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/i/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/nn_01_stabbing_140410.jpg","source":"Nightly News","sourceId":"nnd_18424776","canonicalUrl":"http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nightly-news/school-stabbing-first-responders-horrifying-moments-222810179933","shortUrl":"http://nbcnews.to/1hwNp2j","associatedPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_21426262","fallbackPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_18424776","mezzVersion":"1","duration":204},{"type":"p","html":"The affidavit of probable cause further indicated that Hribal is the same person who made threats against two students the night before the attack."},{"type":"p","html":"The two male students at Franklin Regional High School told cops that they received threatening calls from someone "believed to be the actor (Hribal).""},{"type":"p","html":"The caller told the boys that he was going to "f--- them up," according to the warrant."},{"type":"p","html":"The warrant states that the caller is believed to be the stabbing suspect simply because of the proximity of the two events."},{"type":"p","html":"Hribal's lawyer Patrick Thomassey was unavailable for comment on the warrant and search."},{"type":"p","html":"According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he said this afternoon: "I don't know of those phone calls. I don't know where they came from. I assume that they'll trace those calls to some cell phone.""},{"type":"p","html":"— With the Associated Press"}],"summary":"Police have released more chilling information about the investigation into the life of Alex Hribal.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":null,"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/school-stabbing-spree/police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing-n80466","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1p4QgUd","title_url_slug":"police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/school-stabbing-spree/police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing-n80466","type":"post","headline":"Police Release Chilling Details on High School Stabbing","headline_cover":"Police Release Chilling Details on High School Stabbing","headline_slug":"police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing","bylines":[{"type":"Byline","is_vip":false,"city":"New York","facebook_page":null,"gplus":null,"instagram":null,"professional_title":"New Editor","show_or_site":"NBC News","twitter_handle":null,"email":"hasani.gittens@nbcuni.com","bio":"
Hasani Gittens is a news editor at NBCNews.com. In that role he assigns, edits, reports and writes news stories, and manages a team of reporters covering mainly the evening hours. Gittens, a WNBC veteran, joined NBCNews.com in January 2013. Before that he worked at The Daily — News Corp's short-lived \"iPad newspaper\" — where he spent two years also as a news editor.
Prior to that, he worked at WNBC as the managing editor of the station's website, and even longer ago he spent eight years as a reporter and eventually an editor for the New York Post.
Gittens lives in Queens, New York.
","name":"Hasani Gittens","picture":null}],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-15 01:15:55 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 04:28:02 Z","sections":[{"title":"News","slug":"news"},{"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"topics":[{"title":"U.S. news","slug":"us-news"},{"title":"Parenting","slug":"parenting"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[{"entry_position":51,"entry_count":51,"title":"School Stabbing Spree","slug":"school-stabbing-spree"}],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/80466","externalId":"80466","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Alex Hribal, the suspect in the multiple stabbings at the Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pa., is escorted by police to a district magistrate to be arraigned on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Export, Pa. Authorities say Hribal has been charged with allegedly stabbing and slashing 19 students and a police officer in the crowded halls of his suburban Pittsburgh high school Wednesday. ","url":"http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/313911/140409-alex-hribal-jms-1925_1bf194879f8d1ff8c7775985d11ec777.jpg","credit":"Keith Srakocic","source":"AP","alt_text":"Image: Alex Hribal","width":2500,"height":1675,"title":"Image: Alex Hribal"}},{"body":[{"type":"p","html":"The self-styled "toughest sheriff in America" is prepared to accept a federal judge's finding that he and his Arizona department racially profiled Latinos in violation of the U.S. Constitution, court documents showed Monday."},{"type":"p","html":"Attorneys for Maricopa County submitted a draft "corrective statement" (PDF) in U.S. District Court in Phoenix acknowledging that the judge had found constitutional violations and stipulating that Joe Arpaio, the county's swaggering sheriff for more than 20 years, wouldn't appeal some of the findings."},{"type":"p","html":"The turnabout is a dramatic one for the 80-year-old Arpaio, who's insisted that his department never racially profiled Latinos as illegal immigrants while scores of lawsuits made their way through the courts and the U.S. Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"image","url":"http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323801/140414-arpaio-jms-2155_4e838b8d6821bb00dc2edf47aa0cdb99.jpg","caption":"Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will sign a federal court document agreeing not to appeal a judge's finding that his department targeted Latinos for special attention during some traffic stops, county attorneys told the court.","credit":"Ross D. Franklin","source":"AP file","title":"Image: Joe Arpaio","alt_text":"Image: Joe Arpaio","width":2500,"height":1739},{"type":"p","html":"The document was filed in a class-action lawsuit in which U.S. District Judge Murray Snow found in May 2013 that the sheriff's office had systematically detained Latinos "solely on suspicion that they were in the United States without authorization" and had targeted them for special attention in traffic stops."},{"type":"p","html":"Last month, Snow hauled Arpaio and his chief deputy, Jerry Sheridan, into court to rebuke them for producing training videos for their deputies trivializing and misrepresenting his legal findings."},{"type":"p","html":"The "corrective statement" agrees to properly represent the judge's findings in communications with deputies — telling them that mere belief that someone might be in the U.S. illegally doesn't justify detaining him or her without some other reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed."},{"type":"p","html":"But beyond acknowledging the ruling, the legal filing goes further: It states that while the sheriff's office will continue its appeal of Snow's ruling finding racial profiling in traffic stops in general, "we are not appealing the Court's finding that that MCSO violated the constitutional rights of Latinos during saturation patrols" — in which officers flood a targeted geographic area in a concentrated law enforcement operation."},{"type":"p","html":"Moreover, even if the department wins its larger appeal, the finding that Maricopa d eputies racially profiled Latinos in the targeted stops "will not be altered," the statement stipulates."},{"type":"p","html":"The sheriff's office and the county attorney's office didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. But in a separate letter (PDF) accompanying the proposed "corrective statement," county attorneys wrote that "Sheriff Arpaio and Chief Deputy Sheridan are agreeable to signing Exhibit I as written if approved by the court.""}],"summary":"Court documents show Sheriff Joe Arpaio is prepared to sign a document saying he won't appeal a judge's finding of some racial profiling.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":null,"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents-n80486","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1m4bj7l","title_url_slug":"arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents-n80486","type":"post","headline":"Arpaio Ready to Accept Racial Profiling Ruling: Documents","headline_cover":"'Toughest Sheriff' Arpaio Ready to Accept Racial Profiling Ruling","headline_slug":"arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents","bylines":[{"type":"Byline","is_vip":false,"city":"Seattle","facebook_page":"https://www.facebook.com/MAlexJohnsonNBC","gplus":"https://plus.google.com/+MAlexJohnson/","instagram":null,"professional_title":"Senior Writer","show_or_site":"NBCNews.com","twitter_handle":"MAlexJohnson","email":null,"bio":"
M. Alex Johnson is a senior writer for NBC News covering general news, with an emphasis on explanatory journalism and data analysis. Johnson joined NBCNews.com in January 2000 from The Washington Post, where he was news editor of washingtonpost.com and night city editor of the print edition. He has also worked at the Knight-Ridder Washington bureau, Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer, where he was part of a team that won the 1987 Pulitzer Gold Medal for Public Service. He is a member of the National Press Club, Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Online News Association.
","name":"M. Alex Johnson","picture":{"credit":null,"caption":"NBCNews.com Senior Writer M. Alex Johnson","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2013_52/81996/johnson-alex_e55b003bdd478660d6526c1542c1fe89.jpg","width":480,"height":480}}],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-15 03:21:16 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 03:21:16 Z","sections":[{"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"topics":[{"title":"U.S. news","slug":"us-news"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/80486","externalId":"80486","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio pauses as he answers a question at a news conference at Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Headquarters Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, in Phoenix. County officials are holding a closed-door meeting Thursday to consider action in two lawsuits that accuse Arpaio of abusing his powers. ","url":"http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323801/140414-arpaio-jms-2155_4e838b8d6821bb00dc2edf47aa0cdb99.jpg","credit":"Ross D. Franklin","source":"AP file","alt_text":null,"width":2500,"height":1739,"title":"Image: Joe Arpaio"}},{"body":[{"type":"p","html":"Monday night's marvels are worth staying up late for: Not only will Mars be bigger and brighter than it's been for more than six years, but you'll also be able to see the first total lunar eclipse in more than two years."},{"type":"p","html":"Total lunar eclipses occur when Earth is positioned precisely between the sun and the full moon. Because of the tilt of the moon's orbit, total eclipses don't happen all that often — about twice in the course of three years, on average. When they do, it can be a spectacular sight: The darkened moon takes on a reddish glow because of the sunlight refracted by Earth's atmosphere."},{"type":"p","html":"The last total lunar eclipse took place in December 2011, but we're co ming up on a series of four such events, known as a tetrad, which is dictated by a recurrence of the right orbital parameters. After Monday night's eclipse, the other three are due on Oct. 8, and then next year on April 4 and Sept. 28."},{"type":"p","html":""The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA," eclipse expert Fred Espenak said in a NASA preview."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"widget","widget_type":"inline-video","videoType":"Original","mpxId":"223568963846","guid":"p_30stk_blood_moon_140414","pubDate":"2014-04-14 09:59:00 Z","expirationDate":"9999-12-31 23:59:59 Z","playbackIsDisabled":false,"availabilityState":"available","title":"What Is a Blood Moon?","description":"On April 15, stargazers will be getting a celestial treat that some have termed as blood moon. Astrophysicist Summer Ash explains what to expect from the lunar event.","thumbnail":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/p_30stk_blood_moon_140414.jpg","source":"NBCNews.com","sourceId":"nnd_18424716","canonicalUrl":"http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nbcnews-com/what-is-a-blood-moon-223568963846","shortUrl":"http://nbcnews.to/1ndQfbZ","associatedPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_53296819","fallbackPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_18424716","mezzVersion":"3","duration":41},{"type":"p","html":"Moon-Day isn't Doomsday"},{"type":"p","html":"Some doomsayers are selling the "Blood Moon" tetrad as an evil omen, but that's bogus. The only thing that's scary about this eclipse is what it might do to your sleep schedule: The moon won't start crossing into Earth's shadow until 12:53 a.m. ET Tuesday, and the total phase of the eclipse lasts from 3:06 to 4:24 a.m. ET. Espenak lays out the details on NASA's eclipse-centric Web site."},{"type":"p","html":"Unlike solar eclipses , lunar eclipses are visible to half the world at the same time. This time around, North America is prime territory, but portions of the eclipse can be seen from parts of South America, Europe and Asia just before sunrise, and parts of Asia and the Pacific just after sunset."},{"type":"p","html":"You may have heard all those warnings about protecting your eyes during a solar eclipse — but a lunar eclipse is totally different, and totally safe. Look all you want. Want a closer look? Use binoculars. Want to take a picture? Espenak tells you how."},{"type":"p","html":"Even if the skies are cloudy, you can get in on the show over the Web and via social media. To keep up with the stream, follow the hashtag #eclipse and keep an eye on NASA's Facebook page."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"image","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/319391/140411-coslog-map_0c137556ef44a7436cbaabc658e954bf.jpg","caption":"Use this map to determine whether the moon sets or rises during any stage of April's eclipse. Because an eclipsed moon is always full, moonset or moonrise happens in a very bright sky.","credit":"","source":"Sky & Telescope","title":"Image: Eclipse map","alt_text":"Image: Eclipse map","width":960,"height":540},{"type":"p","html":"NASA is planning an "Up All Night" chat that starts at 1 a.m. ET Tuesday and continues until the eclipse is completely finished, around 5 a.m. ET. NASA astronomer Mitzi Adams and astrophysicist Alphonse Sterling will be available to answer your questions. A live Ustream view of the lunar eclipse, provided by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, will accompany the commentary."},{"type":"p","html":"You can also tune in eclipse coverage on NASA TV starting at 1 a.m., and share your eclipse pics via NASA's Flickr group."},{"type":"p","html":"The Slooh virtual observatory is planning its own webcast at 2 a.m. ET Tuesday, featuring live feeds from various locations and commentary from host Paul Cox and astronomer Bob Berman. Guests include Timothy Ferris, author of "Seeing in the Dark"; and Duncan Copp, producer of the award-winning film "In the Shadow of the Moon." Tune in the show via Slooh.com, YouTube or the Slooh iPad app, and ask questions using the hashtag #slooh."},{"type":"p","html":"The Virtual Telescope Project 2.0 has a webcast as well, starting at 2:30 a.m. ET."},{"type":"ul","html":"
Nine cool facts about lunar eclipses
Why an eclipse paints the moon red
Flash interactive: What causes a lunar eclipse?
"},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"image","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/319401/140411-coslog-times_01c3e55ae703ab9f0e912ea7e89b040d.jpg","caption":"This map shows the progress of the total lunar eclipse through Earth's shadow (penumbra and umbra) for Eastern Daylight Time on April 15. Due to the moon's off-center path through Earth's umbra, the northern half of its disk should look especially dark during totality. The penumbral phase occurs before and after the partial phase.","credit":"","source":"Sky & Telescope","title":"Image: Eclipse times","alt_text":"Image: Eclipse times","width":1920,"height":1080},{"type":"p","html":"Get in on Mars and more"},{"type":"p","html":"The moon isn't the only spacey attraction out there: It's also prime time for seeing Mars at its biggest and brightest. Mars reaches the closest point to Earth in its orbit on Monday, passing by at a distance of 57 million miles (92 million kilometers). On Monday night, it'll rise just before the moon and shine like a butterscotch-colored star virtually all night. Check out our viewing guide for the details."},{"type":"p","html":"This is the closest Mars has been since late 2007, but after Monday night, Mars will recede from Earth for about a year, then make another approach for an even closer encounter in 2016. Slooh is planning a separate viewing party for Mars, starting 10 p.m. ET Monday."},{"type":"p","html":"The International Spac e Station should be visible passing through evening skies over some parts of the United States — to get the viewing schedule for your location, consult NASA's "Spot the Station" website. Jupiter, Saturn and Venus are also out: For details on those night sights, head on over to EarthSky and Sky & Telescope."},{"type":"p","html":"Monday night will be a hard act to follow, but there's more to come. In the weeks ahead, two meteor showers will be hitting their peak: the Lyrids and the Eta Aquarids. Getting up in the middle of the night for Moon-Day will be good experience for those coming attractions."},{"type":"p","html":"Got pictures to share? Alert us to them by using the hashtag #NBCEclipse on Twitter or Instagram, sending your favorite via our FirstPerson photo-upload page, or sharing them on the NBC News Science Facebook page."},{"type":"p","html":"Tip o' the Log to Sky & Telescope for the eclipse photo and graphics. "}],"summary":"Monday n ight is prime time for watching a total lunar eclipse and seeing Mars at its best, so make the most out of the opportunity.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":null,"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/moon-day-tonights-night-blood-moon-eclipse-mars-n78411","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1ndXIYp","title_url_slug":"moon-day-tonights-night-blood-moon-eclipse-mars","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/moon-day-set-your-clock-blood-moon-eclipse-mars-n78411","type":"spread","headline":"Moon-Day! Tonight's the Night for a 'Blood Moon' Eclipse and Mars","headline_cover":"Moon-Day! Tonight's the Night for Lunar Eclipse","headline_slug":"moon-day-tonights-night-blood-moon-eclipse-mars","bylines":[{"type":"Byline","is_vip":false,"city":null,"facebook_page":"https://www.facebook.com/alan.boyle","gplus":"https://plus.google.com/+AlanBoyle?rel=author","instagram":null,"professional_title":null,"show_or_site":null,"twitter_handle":"b0yle","email":"alan.boyle@nbcuni.com","bio":"
Alan Boyle is the science editor for NBC News Digital. He joined MSNBC.com at its inception in July 1996, and took on the science role in July 1997 with the landing of NASA's Mars Pathfinder probe. Boyle is responsible for coverage of science and space for NBCNews.com.
Boyle joined NBCNews.com from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where he was the foreign desk editor from 1987 to 1996. Boyle has won awards for science journalism from numerous organizations, including the National Academies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Science Writers. Boyle is the a uthor of \"The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference.\" He lives in Bellevue, Wash.
","name":"Alan Boyle","picture":{"credit":"Robert Hood","caption":"","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_01/93181/boyle-square_3c47c0b025d92c7ac422c40e7070331e.jpg","width":739,"height":739}}],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-11 22:46:51 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 02:32:21 Z","sections":[{"title":"Science","slug":"science"},{"title":"Nightly News","slug":"nightly-news"}],"topics":[{"title":"Space","slug":"space"},{"title":"Cosmic Log","slug":"cosmic-log"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/78411","externalId":"78411","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Akira Fujii captured this record of the moon's progress dead-center through Earth's shadow in July 2000 by aligning his camera on the same star for successive exposures.","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/319041/140411-coslog-moon_cc2f10d6096a1c47363c5f7dea0b2f91.jpg","credit":null,"source":"Akira Fujii / Sky & Telescope file","alt_text":"Image: Lunar eclipse","width":3300,"height":1600,"title":"Image: Lunar eclipse"}}]};
var storylineBootstrapJson = {"results":[{"name":"School Stabbing Spree","slug":"school-stabbing-spree","last_modified_utc":"2014-04-15T04:28:02Z","count":51},{"name":"Missing Jet","slug":"missing-jet","last_modified_utc":"2014-04-15T01:23:29Z","count":487},{"name":"Jewish Center Shootings","slug":"jewish-center-shootings","last_modified_utc":"2014-04-15T00:57:04Z","count":13}]};
var marqueeBootstrapJson = {"stats":{"totalResults":0,"requestedAt":"2014-04-15 04:32:29 Z","executionTime":0,"ra":"s01","rd":"s08"},"marquee":null};
"},{"type":"p","html":"Lane was in the U.S. to play baseball and study at East Central University in Ada."},{"type":"p","html":"Chancey Allen Luna, 16, was charged with first-degree murder and Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, was charged with being an accessory after the fact and to having fired a weapon. A third teenager faces lesser charges after he turned state's evidence in February."},{"type":"p","html":"According to an affidavit obtained by NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City, Barnes became involved "by concealing a .22 caliber revolver, the weapon used in the shooting death of Christopher Lane.""},{"type":"p","html":"All defendants and their lawyers are under a gag order, but police said at the time of the initial arrests that the teenagers were "bored and didn't have anything to do," so they "decided to kill somebody.""},{"type":"p","html":"— M. Alex Johnson"}],"summary":"A 22-year-old man is accused of being an accessory to first-degree murder for allegedly hiding the gun used to kill Christopher Lane in Oklahoma last year.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":{"caption":"Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, Australia, was shot to death in August while jogging in Oklahoma.","url":"http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323511/8c8756864-g-cvr-130820-lane-okla-530a-nbcnews-ux-720-520_bbd869dad7b01dc5adcc6ed6860a1c26.jpg","credit":"Essendon Baseball Club via AP file","source":null,"alt_text":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane","width":640,"height":480,"title":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane"},"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player-n80361","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1p4yosA","title_url_slug":"fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player-n80361","type":"post","headline":"Fourth Person Charged in Slaying of College Baseball Player","headline_cover":"Fourth Person Charged in Infamous 'Boredom' Killing ","headline_slug":"fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player","bylines":[],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-14 22:58:03 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 04:29:14 Z","sections":[{"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"topics":[{"title":"Crime & Courts","slug":"crime-courts"},{"title":"U.S. news","slug":"us-news"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/80361","externalId":"80361","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, Australia, was shot to death in August while jogging in Oklahoma.","url":"http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323511/8c8756864-g-cvr-130820-lane-okla-530a-nbcnews-ux-720-520_bbd869dad7b01dc5adcc6ed6860a1c26.jpg","credit":"Essendon Baseball Club via AP file","source":null,"alt_text":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane","width":640,"height":480,"title":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane"}}]}
var menuBootstrapJson = {"native_ad_results":[],"stats":{"totalResults":52588,"requestedAt":"2014-04-15 04:30:58 Z","executionTime":78,"ra":"s04","rd":"s05"},"config":{"layout":"normal","marquee":null,"native_ad":null},"metadata":null,"results":[{"body":[{"type":"p","html":"A fourth person was charged Monday in connection with the "boredom" killing of an Australian college baseball player out for a jog in Oklahoma last year."},{"type":"p","html":"Oddesse John David Barnes pleaded not guilty to being an accessory to first-degree murder after the fact in the death of Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, Australia, who was shot in the back Aug. 16 while jogging in Duncan."},{"type":"p","html":"Barnes, 22, of Duncan, was taken into custody Friday and was being held on $150,000 bond pending a June 4 preliminary hearing."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"p","html":"Lane was in the U.S. to play baseball and study at East Central University in Ada."},{"type":"p","html":"Chancey Al len Luna, 16, was charged with first-degree murder and Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, was charged with being an accessory after the fact and to having fired a weapon. A third teenager faces lesser charges after he turned state's evidence in February."},{"type":"p","html":"According to an affidavit obtained by NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City, Barnes became involved "by concealing a .22 caliber revolver, the weapon used in the shooting death of Christopher Lane.""},{"type":"p","html":"All defendants and their lawyers are under a gag order, but police said at the time of the initial arrests that the teenagers were "bored and didn't have anything to do," so they "decided to kill somebody.""},{"type":"p","html":"— M. Alex Johnson"}],"summary":"A 22-year-old man is accused of being an accessory to first-degree murder for allegedly hiding the gun used to kill Christopher Lane in Oklahoma last year.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":{"caption":"Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, Australia, was shot to death in August while jogging in Oklahoma.","url":"http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323511/8c8756864-g-cvr-130820-lane-okla-530a-nbcnews-ux-720-520_bbd869dad7b01dc5adcc6ed6860a1c26.jpg","credit":"Essendon Baseball Club via AP file","source":null,"alt_text":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane","width":640,"height":480,"title":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane"},"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player-n80361","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1p4yosA","title_url_slug":"fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player-n80361","type":"post","headline":"Fourth Person Charged in Slaying of College Baseball Player","headline_cover":"Fourth Person Charged in Infamous 'Boredom' Killing ","headline_slug":"fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player","bylines":[],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-14 22:58:03 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 04:29:14 Z","sections":[{"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"topics":[{"title":"Crime & Courts","slug":"crime-courts"},{"title":"U.S. news","slug":"us-news"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/80361","externalId":"80361","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, Australia, was shot to death in August while jogging in Oklahoma.","url":"http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323511/8c8756864-g-cvr-130820-lane-okla-530a-nbcnews-ux-720-520_bbd869dad7b01dc5adcc6ed6860a1c26.jpg","credit":"Essendon Baseball Club via AP file","source":null,"alt_text":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane","width":640,"height":480,"title":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane"}},{"body":[{"type":"p","html":"An X-Box, a Nintendo Wii and a Sony Playstation, along with dozens of games and gaming paraphernalia, an iPod, an iPad and three computers were taken from the home of the Pennsylvania high school stabbing suspect, according to an affidavit released Monday."},{"type":"p","html":"But the most ominous thing on the list is a common kitchen item: A Chicago Cutlery wooden block knife holder with two knives missing."},{"type":"p","html":"The items were all taken Wednesday from the home of suspect Alex Hribal's parents after Westmoreland County detectives obtained a search warrant directly after the 7 a.m. stabbing."},{"type":"p","html":"Hribal, 16, is charged as an adult with four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault following a brutal stabbing spree of 21 students and a security guard as a suburban Pittsburgh high school."},{"type":"p","html":"The suspect was allegedly holding two knives in the attack."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"widget","widget_type":"inline-video","videoType":"Broadcast","mpxId":"222810179933","guid":"nn_01_stabbing_140410","pubDate":"2014-04-10 23:23:40 Z","expirationDate":"9999-12-31 23:59:59 Z","playbackIsDisabled":false,"availabilityState":"available","title":"School Stabbing: First Responders' Horrifying Moments","description":"Investigators are still trying to determine what might have sparked t he rampage that injured 22.","thumbnail":"http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/i/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/nn_01_stabbing_140410.jpg","source":"Nightly News","sourceId":"nnd_18424776","canonicalUrl":"http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nightly-news/school-stabbing-first-responders-horrifying-moments-222810179933","shortUrl":"http://nbcnews.to/1hwNp2j","associatedPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_21426262","fallbackPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_18424776","mezzVersion":"1","duration":204},{"type":"p","html":"The affidavit of probable cause further indicated that Hribal is the same person who made threats against two students the night before the attack."},{"type":"p","html":"The two male students at Franklin Regional High School told cops that they received threatening calls from someone "believed to be the actor (Hribal).""},{"type":"p","html":"The caller told the boys that he was going to "f--- them up," according to the warrant."},{"type":"p","html":"The warrant states that the caller is believed to be the stabbing suspect simply because of the proximity of the two events."},{"type":"p","html":"Hribal's lawyer Patrick Thomassey was unavailable for comment on the warrant and search."},{"type":"p","html":"According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he said this afternoon: "I don't know of those phone calls. I don't know where they came from. I assume that they'll trace those calls to some cell phone.""},{"type":"p","html":"— With the Associated Press"}],"summary":"Police have released more chilling information about the investigation into the life of Alex Hribal.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":null,"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/school-stabbing-spree/police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing-n80466","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1p4QgUd","title_url_slug":"police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/school-stabbing-spree/police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing-n80466","type":"post","headline":"Police Release Chilling Details on High School Stabbing","headline_cover":"Police Release Chilling Details on High School Stabbing","headline_slug":"police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing","bylines":[{"type":"Byline","is_vip":false,"city":"New York","facebook_page":null,"gplus":null,"instagram":null,"professional_title":"New Editor","show_or_site":"NBC News","twitter_handle":null,"email":"hasani.gittens@nbcuni.com","bio":"
Hasani Gittens is a news editor at NBCNews.com. In that role he assigns, edits, reports and writes news stories, and manages a team of reporters covering mainly the evening hours. Gittens, a WNBC veteran, joined NBCNews.com in January 2013. Before that he worked at The Daily — News Corp's short-lived \"iPad newspaper\" — where he spent two years also as a news editor.
Prior to that, he worked at WNBC as the managing editor of the station's website, and even longer ago he spent eight years as a reporter and eventually an editor for the New York Post.
Gittens lives in Queens, New York.
","name":"Hasani Gittens","picture":null}],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-15 01:15:55 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 04:28:02 Z","sections":[{"title":"News","slug":"news"},{"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"topics":[{"title":"U.S. news","slug":"us-news"},{"title":"Parenting","slug":"parenting"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[{"entry_position":51,"entry_count":51,"title":"School Stabbing Spree","slug":"school-stabbing-spree"}],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/80466","externalId":"80466","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Alex Hribal, the suspect in the multiple stabbings at the Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pa., is escorted by police to a district magistrate to be arraigned on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Export, Pa. Authorities say Hribal has been charged with allegedly stabbing and slashing 19 students and a police officer in the crowded halls of his suburban Pittsburgh high school Wednesday. ","url":"http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/313911/140409-alex-hribal-jms-1925_1bf194879f8d1ff8c7775985d11ec777.jpg","credit":"Keith Srakocic","source":"AP","alt_text":"Image: Alex Hribal","width":2500,"height":1675,"title":"Image: Alex Hribal"}},{"body":[{"type":"p","html":"The self-styled "toughest sheriff in America" is prepared to accept a federal judge's finding that he and his Arizona department racially profiled Latinos in violation of the U.S. Constitution, court documents showed Monday."},{"type":"p","html":"Attorneys for Maricopa County submitted a draft "corrective statement" (PDF) in U.S. District Court in Phoenix acknowledging that the judge had found constitutional violations and stipulating that Joe Arpaio, the county's swaggering sheriff for more than 20 years, wouldn't appeal some of the findings."},{"type":"p","html":"The turnabout is a dramatic one for the 80-year-old Arpaio, who's insisted that his department never racially profiled Latinos as illegal immigrants while scores of lawsuits made their way through the courts and the U.S. Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"image","url":"http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323801/140414-arpaio-jms-2155_4e838b8d6821bb00dc2edf47aa0cdb99.jpg","caption":"Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will sign a federal court document agreeing not to appeal a judge's finding that his department targeted Latinos for special attention during some traffic stops, county attorneys told the court.","credit":"Ross D. Franklin","source":"AP file","title":"Image: Joe Arpaio","alt_text":"Image: Joe Arpaio","width":2500,"height":1739},{"type":"p","html":"The document was filed in a class-action lawsuit in which U.S. District Judge Murray Snow found in May 2013 that the sheriff's office had systematically detained Latinos "solely on suspicion that they were in the United States without authorization" and had targeted them for special attention in traffic stops."},{"type":"p","html":"Last month, Snow hauled Arpaio and his chief deputy, Jerry Sheridan, into court to rebuke them for producing training videos for their deputies trivializing and misrepresenting his legal findings."},{"type":"p","html":"The "corrective statement" agrees to properly represent the judge's findings in communications with deputies — telling them that mere belief that someone might be in the U.S. illegally doesn't justify detaining him or her without some other reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed."},{"type":"p","html":"But beyond acknowledging the ruling, the legal filing goes further: It states that while the sheriff's office will continue its appeal of Snow's ruling finding racial profiling in traffic stops in general, "we are not appealing the Court's finding that that MCSO violated the constitutional rights of Latinos during saturation patrols" — in which officers flood a targeted geographic area in a concentrated law enforcement operation."},{"type":"p","html":"Moreover, even if the department wins its larger appeal, the finding that Maricopa d eputies racially profiled Latinos in the targeted stops "will not be altered," the statement stipulates."},{"type":"p","html":"The sheriff's office and the county attorney's office didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. But in a separate letter (PDF) accompanying the proposed "corrective statement," county attorneys wrote that "Sheriff Arpaio and Chief Deputy Sheridan are agreeable to signing Exhibit I as written if approved by the court.""}],"summary":"Court documents show Sheriff Joe Arpaio is prepared to sign a document saying he won't appeal a judge's finding of some racial profiling.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":null,"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents-n80486","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1m4bj7l","title_url_slug":"arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents-n80486","type":"post","headline":"Arpaio Ready to Accept Racial Profiling Ruling: Documents","headline_cover":"'Toughest Sheriff' Arpaio Ready to Accept Racial Profiling Ruling","headline_slug":"arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents","bylines":[{"type":"Byline","is_vip":false,"city":"Seattle","facebook_page":"https://www.facebook.com/MAlexJohnsonNBC","gplus":"https://plus.google.com/+MAlexJohnson/","instagram":null,"professional_title":"Senior Writer","show_or_site":"NBCNews.com","twitter_handle":"MAlexJohnson","email":null,"bio":"
M. Alex Johnson is a senior writer for NBC News covering general news, with an emphasis on explanatory journalism and data analysis. Johnson joined NBCNews.com in January 2000 from The Washington Post, where he was news editor of washingtonpost.com and night city editor of the print edition. He has also worked at the Knight-Ridder Washington bureau, Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer, where he was part of a team that won the 1987 Pulitzer Gold Medal for Public Service. He is a member of the National Press Club, Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Online News Association.
","name":"M. Alex Johnson","picture":{"credit":null,"caption":"NBCNews.com Senior Writer M. Alex Johnson","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2013_52/81996/johnson-alex_e55b003bdd478660d6526c1542c1fe89.jpg","width":480,"height":480}}],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-15 03:21:16 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 03:21:16 Z","sections":[{"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"topics":[{"title":"U.S. news","slug":"us-news"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/80486","externalId":"80486","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio pauses as he answers a question at a news conference at Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Headquarters Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, in Phoenix. County officials are holding a closed-door meeting Thursday to consider action in two lawsuits that accuse Arpaio of abusing his powers. ","url":"http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323801/140414-arpaio-jms-2155_4e838b8d6821bb00dc2edf47aa0cdb99.jpg","credit":"Ross D. Franklin","source":"AP file","alt_text":null,"width":2500,"height":1739,"title":"Image: Joe Arpaio"}},{"body":[{"type":"p","html":"Monday night's marvels are worth staying up late for: Not only will Mars be bigger and brighter than it's been for more than six years, but you'll also be able to see the first total lunar eclipse in more than two years."},{"type":"p","html":"Total lunar eclipses occur when Earth is positioned precisely between the sun and the full moon. Because of the tilt of the moon's orbit, total eclipses don't happen all that often — about twice in the course of three years, on average. When they do, it can be a spectacular sight: The darkened moon takes on a reddish glow because of the sunlight refracted by Earth's atmosphere."},{"type":"p","html":"The last total lunar eclipse took place in December 2011, but we're co ming up on a series of four such events, known as a tetrad, which is dictated by a recurrence of the right orbital parameters. After Monday night's eclipse, the other three are due on Oct. 8, and then next year on April 4 and Sept. 28."},{"type":"p","html":""The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA," eclipse expert Fred Espenak said in a NASA preview."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"widget","widget_type":"inline-video","videoType":"Original","mpxId":"223568963846","guid":"p_30stk_blood_moon_140414","pubDate":"2014-04-14 09:59:00 Z","expirationDate":"9999-12-31 23:59:59 Z","playbackIsDisabled":false,"availabilityState":"available","title":"What Is a Blood Moon?","description":"On April 15, stargazers will be getting a celestial treat that some have termed as blood moon. Astrophysicist Summer Ash explains what to expect from the lunar event.","thumbnail":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/p_30stk_blood_moon_140414.jpg","source":"NBCNews.com","sourceId":"nnd_18424716","canonicalUrl":"http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nbcnews-com/what-is-a-blood-moon-223568963846","shortUrl":"http://nbcnews.to/1ndQfbZ","associatedPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_53296819","fallbackPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_18424716","mezzVersion":"3","duration":41},{"type":"p","html":"Moon-Day isn't Doomsday"},{"type":"p","html":"Some doomsayers are selling the "Blood Moon" tetrad as an evil omen, but that's bogus. The only thing that's scary about this eclipse is what it might do to your sleep schedule: The moon won't start crossing into Earth's shadow until 12:53 a.m. ET Tuesday, and the total phase of the eclipse lasts from 3:06 to 4:24 a.m. ET. Espenak lays out the details on NASA's eclipse-centric Web site."},{"type":"p","html":"Unlike solar eclipses , lunar eclipses are visible to half the world at the same time. This time around, North America is prime territory, but portions of the eclipse can be seen from parts of South America, Europe and Asia just before sunrise, and parts of Asia and the Pacific just after sunset."},{"type":"p","html":"You may have heard all those warnings about protecting your eyes during a solar eclipse — but a lunar eclipse is totally different, and totally safe. Look all you want. Want a closer look? Use binoculars. Want to take a picture? Espenak tells you how."},{"type":"p","html":"Even if the skies are cloudy, you can get in on the show over the Web and via social media. To keep up with the stream, follow the hashtag #eclipse and keep an eye on NASA's Facebook page."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"image","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/319391/140411-coslog-map_0c137556ef44a7436cbaabc658e954bf.jpg","caption":"Use this map to determine whether the moon sets or rises during any stage of April's eclipse. Because an eclipsed moon is always full, moonset or moonrise happens in a very bright sky.","credit":"","source":"Sky & Telescope","title":"Image: Eclipse map","alt_text":"Image: Eclipse map","width":960,"height":540},{"type":"p","html":"NASA is planning an "Up All Night" chat that starts at 1 a.m. ET Tuesday and continues until the eclipse is completely finished, around 5 a.m. ET. NASA astronomer Mitzi Adams and astrophysicist Alphonse Sterling will be available to answer your questions. A live Ustream view of the lunar eclipse, provided by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, will accompany the commentary."},{"type":"p","html":"You can also tune in eclipse coverage on NASA TV starting at 1 a.m., and share your eclipse pics via NASA's Flickr group."},{"type":"p","html":"The Slooh virtual observatory is planning its own webcast at 2 a.m. ET Tuesday, featuring live feeds from various locations and commentary from host Paul Cox and astronomer Bob Berman. Guests include Timothy Ferris, author of "Seeing in the Dark"; and Duncan Copp, producer of the award-winning film "In the Shadow of the Moon." Tune in the show via Slooh.com, YouTube or the Slooh iPad app, and ask questions using the hashtag #slooh."},{"type":"p","html":"The Virtual Telescope Project 2.0 has a webcast as well, starting at 2:30 a.m. ET."},{"type":"ul","html":"
Nine cool facts about lunar eclipses
Why an eclipse paints the moon red
Flash interactive: What causes a lunar eclipse?
"},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"image","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/319401/140411-coslog-times_01c3e55ae703ab9f0e912ea7e89b040d.jpg","caption":"This map shows the progress of the total lunar eclipse through Earth's shadow (penumbra and umbra) for Eastern Daylight Time on April 15. Due to the moon's off-center path through Earth's umbra, the northern half of its disk should look especially dark during totality. The penumbral phase occurs before and after the partial phase.","credit":"","source":"Sky & Telescope","title":"Image: Eclipse times","alt_text":"Image: Eclipse times","width":1920,"height":1080},{"type":"p","html":"Get in on Mars and more"},{"type":"p","html":"The moon isn't the only spacey attraction out there: It's also prime time for seeing Mars at its biggest and brightest. Mars reaches the closest point to Earth in its orbit on Monday, passing by at a distance of 57 million miles (92 million kilometers). On Monday night, it'll rise just before the moon and shine like a butterscotch-colored star virtually all night. Check out our viewing guide for the details."},{"type":"p","html":"This is the closest Mars has been since late 2007, but after Monday night, Mars will recede from Earth for about a year, then make another approach for an even closer encounter in 2016. Slooh is planning a separate viewing party for Mars, starting 10 p.m. ET Monday."},{"type":"p","html":"The International Spac e Station should be visible passing through evening skies over some parts of the United States — to get the viewing schedule for your location, consult NASA's "Spot the Station" website. Jupiter, Saturn and Venus are also out: For details on those night sights, head on over to EarthSky and Sky & Telescope."},{"type":"p","html":"Monday night will be a hard act to follow, but there's more to come. In the weeks ahead, two meteor showers will be hitting their peak: the Lyrids and the Eta Aquarids. Getting up in the middle of the night for Moon-Day will be good experience for those coming attractions."},{"type":"p","html":"Got pictures to share? Alert us to them by using the hashtag #NBCEclipse on Twitter or Instagram, sending your favorite via our FirstPerson photo-upload page, or sharing them on the NBC News Science Facebook page."},{"type":"p","html":"Tip o' the Log to Sky & Telescope for the eclipse photo and graphics. "}],"summary":"Monday n ight is prime time for watching a total lunar eclipse and seeing Mars at its best, so make the most out of the opportunity.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":null,"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/moon-day-tonights-night-blood-moon-eclipse-mars-n78411","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1ndXIYp","title_url_slug":"moon-day-tonights-night-blood-moon-eclipse-mars","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/moon-day-set-your-clock-blood-moon-eclipse-mars-n78411","type":"spread","headline":"Moon-Day! Tonight's the Night for a 'Blood Moon' Eclipse and Mars","headline_cover":"Moon-Day! Tonight's the Night for Lunar Eclipse","headline_slug":"moon-day-tonights-night-blood-moon-eclipse-mars","bylines":[{"type":"Byline","is_vip":false,"city":null,"facebook_page":"https://www.facebook.com/alan.boyle","gplus":"https://plus.google.com/+AlanBoyle?rel=author","instagram":null,"professional_title":null,"show_or_site":null,"twitter_handle":"b0yle","email":"alan.boyle@nbcuni.com","bio":"
Alan Boyle is the science editor for NBC News Digital. He joined MSNBC.com at its inception in July 1996, and took on the science role in July 1997 with the landing of NASA's Mars Pathfinder probe. Boyle is responsible for coverage of science and space for NBCNews.com.
Boyle joined NBCNews.com from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where he was the foreign desk editor from 1987 to 1996. Boyle has won awards for science journalism from numerous organizations, including the National Academies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Science Writers. Boyle is the a uthor of \"The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference.\" He lives in Bellevue, Wash.
","name":"Alan Boyle","picture":{"credit":"Robert Hood","caption":"","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_01/93181/boyle-square_3c47c0b025d92c7ac422c40e7070331e.jpg","width":739,"height":739}}],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-11 22:46:51 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 02:32:21 Z","sections":[{"title":"Science","slug":"science"},{"title":"Nightly News","slug":"nightly-news"}],"topics":[{"title":"Space","slug":"space"},{"title":"Cosmic Log","slug":"cosmic-log"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/78411","externalId":"78411","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Akira Fujii captured this record of the moon's progress dead-center through Earth's shadow in July 2000 by aligning his camera on the same star for successive exposures.","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/319041/140411-coslog-moon_cc2f10d6096a1c47363c5f7dea0b2f91.jpg","credit":null,"source":"Akira Fujii / Sky & Telescope file","alt_text":"Image: Lunar eclipse","width":3300,"height":1600,"title":"Image: Lunar eclipse"}}]};
var storylineBootstrapJson = {"results":[{"name":"School Stabbing Spree","slug":"school-stabbing-spree","last_modified_utc":"2014-04-15T04:28:02Z","count":51},{"name":"Missing Jet","slug":"missing-jet","last_modified_utc":"2014-04-15T01:23:29Z","count":487},{"name":"Jewish Center Shootings","slug":"jewish-center-shootings","last_modified_utc":"2014-04-15T00:57:04Z","count":13}]};
var marqueeBootstrapJson = {"stats":{"totalResults":0,"requestedAt":"2014-04-15 04:34:02 Z","executionTime":0,"ra":"s01","rd":"s08"},"marquee":null};
"},{"type":"p","html":"Lane was in the U.S. to play baseball and study at East Central University in Ada."},{"type":"p","html":"Chancey Allen Luna, 16, was charged with first-degree murder and Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, was charged with being an accessory after the fact and to having fired a weapon. A third teenager faces lesser charges after he turned state's evidence in February."},{"type":"p","html":"According to an affidavit obtained by NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City, Barnes became involved "by concealing a .22 caliber revolver, the weapon used in the shooting death of Christopher Lane.""},{"type":"p","html":"All defendants and their lawyers are under a gag order, but police said at the time of the initial arrests that the teenagers were "bored and didn't have anything to do," so they "decided to kill somebody.""},{"type":"p","html":"— M. Alex Johnson"}],"summary":"A 22-year-old man is accused of being an accessory to first-degree murder for allegedly hiding the gun used to kill Christopher Lane in Oklahoma last year.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":{"caption":"Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, Australia, was shot to death in August while jogging in Oklahoma.","url":"http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323511/8c8756864-g-cvr-130820-lane-okla-530a-nbcnews-ux-720-520_bbd869dad7b01dc5adcc6ed6860a1c26.jpg","credit":"Essendon Baseball Club via AP file","source":null,"alt_text":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane","width":640,"height":480,"title":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane"},"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player-n80361","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1p4yosA","title_url_slug":"fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player-n80361","type":"post","headline":"Fourth Person Charged in Slaying of College Baseball Player","headline_cover":"Fourth Person Charged in Infamous 'Boredom' Killing ","headline_slug":"fourth-person-charged-slaying-college-baseball-player","bylines":[],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-14 22:58:03 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 04:29:14 Z","sections":[{"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"topics":[{"title":"Crime & Courts","slug":"crime-courts"},{"title":"U.S. news","slug":"us-news"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/80361","externalId":"80361","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, Australia, was shot to death in August while jogging in Oklahoma.","url":"http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323511/8c8756864-g-cvr-130820-lane-okla-530a-nbcnews-ux-720-520_bbd869dad7b01dc5adcc6ed6860a1c26.jpg","credit":"Essendon Baseball Club via AP file","source":null,"alt_text":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane","width":640,"height":480,"title":"IMAGE: Christopher Lane"}},{"body":[{"type":"p","html":"An X-Box, a Nintendo Wii and a Sony Playstation, along with dozens of games and gaming paraphernalia, an iPod, an iPad and three computers were taken from the home of the Pennsylvania high school stabbing suspect, according to an affidavit released Monday."},{"type":"p","html":"But the most ominous thing on the list is a common kitchen item: A Chicago Cutlery wooden block knife holder with two knives missing."},{"type":"p","html":"The items were all taken Wednesday from the home of suspect Alex Hribal's parents after Westmoreland County detectives obtained a search warrant directly after the 7 a.m. stabbing."},{"type":"p","html":"Hribal, 16, is charged as an adult with four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault following a brutal stabbing spree of 21 students and a security guard as a suburban Pittsburgh high school."},{"type":"p","html":"The suspect was allegedly holding two knives in the attack."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"widget","widget_type":"inline-video","videoType":"Broadcast","mpxId":"222810179933","guid":"nn_01_stabbing_140410","pubDate":"2014-04-10 23:23:40 Z","expirationDate":"9999-12-31 23:59:59 Z","playbackIsDisabled":false,"availabilityState":"available","title":"School Stabbing: First Responders' Horrifying Moments","description":"Investigators are still trying to determine what might have sparked t he rampage that injured 22.","thumbnail":"http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/i/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/nn_01_stabbing_140410.jpg","source":"Nightly News","sourceId":"nnd_18424776","canonicalUrl":"http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nightly-news/school-stabbing-first-responders-horrifying-moments-222810179933","shortUrl":"http://nbcnews.to/1hwNp2j","associatedPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_21426262","fallbackPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_18424776","mezzVersion":"1","duration":204},{"type":"p","html":"The affidavit of probable cause further indicated that Hribal is the same person who made threats against two students the night before the attack."},{"type":"p","html":"The two male students at Franklin Regional High School told cops that they received threatening calls from someone "believed to be the actor (Hribal).""},{"type":"p","html":"The caller told the boys that he was going to "f--- them up," according to the warrant."},{"type":"p","html":"The warrant states that the caller is believed to be the stabbing suspect simply because of the proximity of the two events."},{"type":"p","html":"Hribal's lawyer Patrick Thomassey was unavailable for comment on the warrant and search."},{"type":"p","html":"According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he said this afternoon: "I don't know of those phone calls. I don't know where they came from. I assume that they'll trace those calls to some cell phone.""},{"type":"p","html":"— With the Associated Press"}],"summary":"Police have released more chilling information about the investigation into the life of Alex Hribal.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":null,"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/school-stabbing-spree/police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing-n80466","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1p4QgUd","title_url_slug":"police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/school-stabbing-spree/police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing-n80466","type":"post","headline":"Police Release Chilling Details on High School Stabbing","headline_cover":"Police Release Chilling Details on High School Stabbing","headline_slug":"police-release-chilling-details-high-school-stabbing","bylines":[{"type":"Byline","is_vip":false,"city":"New York","facebook_page":null,"gplus":null,"instagram":null,"professional_title":"New Editor","show_or_site":"NBC News","twitter_handle":null,"email":"hasani.gittens@nbcuni.com","bio":"
Hasani Gittens is a news editor at NBCNews.com. In that role he assigns, edits, reports and writes news stories, and manages a team of reporters covering mainly the evening hours. Gittens, a WNBC veteran, joined NBCNews.com in January 2013. Before that he worked at The Daily — News Corp's short-lived \"iPad newspaper\" — where he spent two years also as a news editor.
Prior to that, he worked at WNBC as the managing editor of the station's website, and even longer ago he spent eight years as a reporter and eventually an editor for the New York Post.
Gittens lives in Queens, New York.
","name":"Hasani Gittens","picture":null}],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-15 01:15:55 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 04:28:02 Z","sections":[{"title":"News","slug":"news"},{"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"topics":[{"title":"U.S. news","slug":"us-news"},{"title":"Parenting","slug":"parenting"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[{"entry_position":51,"entry_count":51,"title":"School Stabbing Spree","slug":"school-stabbing-spree"}],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/80466","externalId":"80466","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Alex Hribal, the suspect in the multiple stabbings at the Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pa., is escorted by police to a district magistrate to be arraigned on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Export, Pa. Authorities say Hribal has been charged with allegedly stabbing and slashing 19 students and a police officer in the crowded halls of his suburban Pittsburgh high school Wednesday. ","url":"http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/313911/140409-alex-hribal-jms-1925_1bf194879f8d1ff8c7775985d11ec777.jpg","credit":"Keith Srakocic","source":"AP","alt_text":"Image: Alex Hribal","width":2500,"height":1675,"title":"Image: Alex Hribal"}},{"body":[{"type":"p","html":"The self-styled "toughest sheriff in America" is prepared to accept a federal judge's finding that he and his Arizona department racially profiled Latinos in violation of the U.S. Constitution, court documents showed Monday."},{"type":"p","html":"Attorneys for Maricopa County submitted a draft "corrective statement" (PDF) in U.S. District Court in Phoenix acknowledging that the judge had found constitutional violations and stipulating that Joe Arpaio, the county's swaggering sheriff for more than 20 years, wouldn't appeal some of the findings."},{"type":"p","html":"The turnabout is a dramatic one for the 80-year-old Arpaio, who's insisted that his department never racially profiled Latinos as illegal immigrants while scores of lawsuits made their way through the courts and the U.S. Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"image","url":"http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323801/140414-arpaio-jms-2155_4e838b8d6821bb00dc2edf47aa0cdb99.jpg","caption":"Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will sign a federal court document agreeing not to appeal a judge's finding that his department targeted Latinos for special attention during some traffic stops, county attorneys told the court.","credit":"Ross D. Franklin","source":"AP file","title":"Image: Joe Arpaio","alt_text":"Image: Joe Arpaio","width":2500,"height":1739},{"type":"p","html":"The document was filed in a class-action lawsuit in which U.S. District Judge Murray Snow found in May 2013 that the sheriff's office had systematically detained Latinos "solely on suspicion that they were in the United States without authorization" and had targeted them for special attention in traffic stops."},{"type":"p","html":"Last month, Snow hauled Arpaio and his chief deputy, Jerry Sheridan, into court to rebuke them for producing training videos for their deputies trivializing and misrepresenting his legal findings."},{"type":"p","html":"The "corrective statement" agrees to properly represent the judge's findings in communications with deputies — telling them that mere belief that someone might be in the U.S. illegally doesn't justify detaining him or her without some other reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed."},{"type":"p","html":"But beyond acknowledging the ruling, the legal filing goes further: It states that while the sheriff's office will continue its appeal of Snow's ruling finding racial profiling in traffic stops in general, "we are not appealing the Court's finding that that MCSO violated the constitutional rights of Latinos during saturation patrols" — in which officers flood a targeted geographic area in a concentrated law enforcement operation."},{"type":"p","html":"Moreover, even if the department wins its larger appeal, the finding that Maricopa d eputies racially profiled Latinos in the targeted stops "will not be altered," the statement stipulates."},{"type":"p","html":"The sheriff's office and the county attorney's office didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. But in a separate letter (PDF) accompanying the proposed "corrective statement," county attorneys wrote that "Sheriff Arpaio and Chief Deputy Sheridan are agreeable to signing Exhibit I as written if approved by the court.""}],"summary":"Court documents show Sheriff Joe Arpaio is prepared to sign a document saying he won't appeal a judge's finding of some racial profiling.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":null,"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents-n80486","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1m4bj7l","title_url_slug":"arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents-n80486","type":"post","headline":"Arpaio Ready to Accept Racial Profiling Ruling: Documents","headline_cover":"'Toughest Sheriff' Arpaio Ready to Accept Racial Profiling Ruling","headline_slug":"arpaio-ready-accept-racial-profiling-ruling-documents","bylines":[{"type":"Byline","is_vip":false,"city":"Seattle","facebook_page":"https://www.facebook.com/MAlexJohnsonNBC","gplus":"https://plus.google.com/+MAlexJohnson/","instagram":null,"professional_title":"Senior Writer","show_or_site":"NBCNews.com","twitter_handle":"MAlexJohnson","email":null,"bio":"
M. Alex Johnson is a senior writer for NBC News covering general news, with an emphasis on explanatory journalism and data analysis. Johnson joined NBCNews.com in January 2000 from The Washington Post, where he was news editor of washingtonpost.com and night city editor of the print edition. He has also worked at the Knight-Ridder Washington bureau, Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer, where he was part of a team that won the 1987 Pulitzer Gold Medal for Public Service. He is a member of the National Press Club, Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Online News Association.
","name":"M. Alex Johnson","picture":{"credit":null,"caption":"NBCNews.com Senior Writer M. Alex Johnson","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2013_52/81996/johnson-alex_e55b003bdd478660d6526c1542c1fe89.jpg","width":480,"height":480}}],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-15 03:21:16 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 03:21:16 Z","sections":[{"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"topics":[{"title":"U.S. news","slug":"us-news"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/80486","externalId":"80486","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio pauses as he answers a question at a news conference at Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Headquarters Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, in Phoenix. County officials are holding a closed-door meeting Thursday to consider action in two lawsuits that accuse Arpaio of abusing his powers. ","url":"http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_16/323801/140414-arpaio-jms-2155_4e838b8d6821bb00dc2edf47aa0cdb99.jpg","credit":"Ross D. Franklin","source":"AP file","alt_text":null,"width":2500,"height":1739,"title":"Image: Joe Arpaio"}},{"body":[{"type":"p","html":"Monday night's marvels are worth staying up late for: Not only will Mars be bigger and brighter than it's been for more than six years, but you'll also be able to see the first total lunar eclipse in more than two years."},{"type":"p","html":"Total lunar eclipses occur when Earth is positioned precisely between the sun and the full moon. Because of the tilt of the moon's orbit, total eclipses don't happen all that often — about twice in the course of three years, on average. When they do, it can be a spectacular sight: The darkened moon takes on a reddish glow because of the sunlight refracted by Earth's atmosphere."},{"type":"p","html":"The last total lunar eclipse took place in December 2011, but we're co ming up on a series of four such events, known as a tetrad, which is dictated by a recurrence of the right orbital parameters. After Monday night's eclipse, the other three are due on Oct. 8, and then next year on April 4 and Sept. 28."},{"type":"p","html":""The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA," eclipse expert Fred Espenak said in a NASA preview."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"widget","widget_type":"inline-video","videoType":"Original","mpxId":"223568963846","guid":"p_30stk_blood_moon_140414","pubDate":"2014-04-14 09:59:00 Z","expirationDate":"9999-12-31 23:59:59 Z","playbackIsDisabled":false,"availabilityState":"available","title":"What Is a Blood Moon?","description":"On April 15, stargazers will be getting a celestial treat that some have termed as blood moon. Astrophysicist Summer Ash explains what to expect from the lunar event.","thumbnail":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/p_30stk_blood_moon_140414.jpg","source":"NBCNews.com","sourceId":"nnd_18424716","canonicalUrl":"http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nbcnews-com/what-is-a-blood-moon-223568963846","shortUrl":"http://nbcnews.to/1ndQfbZ","associatedPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_53296819","fallbackPlaylistUrl":"http://feed.theplatform.com/f/2E2eJC/nnd_18424716","mezzVersion":"3","duration":41},{"type":"p","html":"Moon-Day isn't Doomsday"},{"type":"p","html":"Some doomsayers are selling the "Blood Moon" tetrad as an evil omen, but that's bogus. The only thing that's scary about this eclipse is what it might do to your sleep schedule: The moon won't start crossing into Earth's shadow until 12:53 a.m. ET Tuesday, and the total phase of the eclipse lasts from 3:06 to 4:24 a.m. ET. Espenak lays out the details on NASA's eclipse-centric Web site."},{"type":"p","html":"Unlike solar eclipses , lunar eclipses are visible to half the world at the same time. This time around, North America is prime territory, but portions of the eclipse can be seen from parts of South America, Europe and Asia just before sunrise, and parts of Asia and the Pacific just after sunset."},{"type":"p","html":"You may have heard all those warnings about protecting your eyes during a solar eclipse — but a lunar eclipse is totally different, and totally safe. Look all you want. Want a closer look? Use binoculars. Want to take a picture? Espenak tells you how."},{"type":"p","html":"Even if the skies are cloudy, you can get in on the show over the Web and via social media. To keep up with the stream, follow the hashtag #eclipse and keep an eye on NASA's Facebook page."},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"image","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/319391/140411-coslog-map_0c137556ef44a7436cbaabc658e954bf.jpg","caption":"Use this map to determine whether the moon sets or rises during any stage of April's eclipse. Because an eclipsed moon is always full, moonset or moonrise happens in a very bright sky.","credit":"","source":"Sky & Telescope","title":"Image: Eclipse map","alt_text":"Image: Eclipse map","width":960,"height":540},{"type":"p","html":"NASA is planning an "Up All Night" chat that starts at 1 a.m. ET Tuesday and continues until the eclipse is completely finished, around 5 a.m. ET. NASA astronomer Mitzi Adams and astrophysicist Alphonse Sterling will be available to answer your questions. A live Ustream view of the lunar eclipse, provided by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, will accompany the commentary."},{"type":"p","html":"You can also tune in eclipse coverage on NASA TV starting at 1 a.m., and share your eclipse pics via NASA's Flickr group."},{"type":"p","html":"The Slooh virtual observatory is planning its own webcast at 2 a.m. ET Tuesday, featuring live feeds from various locations and commentary from host Paul Cox and astronomer Bob Berman. Guests include Timothy Ferris, author of "Seeing in the Dark"; and Duncan Copp, producer of the award-winning film "In the Shadow of the Moon." Tune in the show via Slooh.com, YouTube or the Slooh iPad app, and ask questions using the hashtag #slooh."},{"type":"p","html":"The Virtual Telescope Project 2.0 has a webcast as well, starting at 2:30 a.m. ET."},{"type":"ul","html":"
Nine cool facts about lunar eclipses
Why an eclipse paints the moon red
Flash interactive: What causes a lunar eclipse?
"},{"type":"p","html":""},{"type":"image","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/319401/140411-coslog-times_01c3e55ae703ab9f0e912ea7e89b040d.jpg","caption":"This map shows the progress of the total lunar eclipse through Earth's shadow (penumbra and umbra) for Eastern Daylight Time on April 15. Due to the moon's off-center path through Earth's umbra, the northern half of its disk should look especially dark during totality. The penumbral phase occurs before and after the partial phase.","credit":"","source":"Sky & Telescope","title":"Image: Eclipse times","alt_text":"Image: Eclipse times","width":1920,"height":1080},{"type":"p","html":"Get in on Mars and more"},{"type":"p","html":"The moon isn't the only spacey attraction out there: It's also prime time for seeing Mars at its biggest and brightest. Mars reaches the closest point to Earth in its orbit on Monday, passing by at a distance of 57 million miles (92 million kilometers). On Monday night, it'll rise just before the moon and shine like a butterscotch-colored star virtually all night. Check out our viewing guide for the details."},{"type":"p","html":"This is the closest Mars has been since late 2007, but after Monday night, Mars will recede from Earth for about a year, then make another approach for an even closer encounter in 2016. Slooh is planning a separate viewing party for Mars, starting 10 p.m. ET Monday."},{"type":"p","html":"The International Spac e Station should be visible passing through evening skies over some parts of the United States — to get the viewing schedule for your location, consult NASA's "Spot the Station" website. Jupiter, Saturn and Venus are also out: For details on those night sights, head on over to EarthSky and Sky & Telescope."},{"type":"p","html":"Monday night will be a hard act to follow, but there's more to come. In the weeks ahead, two meteor showers will be hitting their peak: the Lyrids and the Eta Aquarids. Getting up in the middle of the night for Moon-Day will be good experience for those coming attractions."},{"type":"p","html":"Got pictures to share? Alert us to them by using the hashtag #NBCEclipse on Twitter or Instagram, sending your favorite via our FirstPerson photo-upload page, or sharing them on the NBC News Science Facebook page."},{"type":"p","html":"Tip o' the Log to Sky & Telescope for the eclipse photo and graphics. "}],"summary":"Monday n ight is prime time for watching a total lunar eclipse and seeing Mars at its best, so make the most out of the opportunity.","mediaList":null,"breaking_news":false,"show_on_cover":true,"ads_enabled":true,"comments_enabled":true,"search_enabled":true,"native_ad":false,"copyright":null,"cover_art":null,"tease_art":null,"canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/moon-day-tonights-night-blood-moon-eclipse-mars-n78411","short_url":"http://nbcnews.to/1ndXIYp","title_url_slug":"moon-day-tonights-night-blood-moon-eclipse-mars","original_canonical_url":"http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/moon-day-set-your-clock-blood-moon-eclipse-mars-n78411","type":"spread","headline":"Moon-Day! Tonight's the Night for a 'Blood Moon' Eclipse and Mars","headline_cover":"Moon-Day! Tonight's the Night for Lunar Eclipse","headline_slug":"moon-day-tonights-night-blood-moon-eclipse-mars","bylines":[{"type":"Byline","is_vip":false,"city":null,"facebook_page":"https://www.facebook.com/alan.boyle","gplus":"https://plus.google.com/+AlanBoyle?rel=author","instagram":null,"professional_title":null,"show_or_site":null,"twitter_handle":"b0yle","email":"alan.boyle@nbcuni.com","bio":"
Alan Boyle is the science editor for NBC News Digital. He joined MSNBC.com at its inception in July 1996, and took on the science role in July 1997 with the landing of NASA's Mars Pathfinder probe. Boyle is responsible for coverage of science and space for NBCNews.com.
Boyle joined NBCNews.com from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where he was the foreign desk editor from 1987 to 1996. Boyle has won awards for science journalism from numerous organizations, including the National Academies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Science Writers. Boyle is the a uthor of \"The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference.\" He lives in Bellevue, Wash.
","name":"Alan Boyle","picture":{"credit":"Robert Hood","caption":"","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_01/93181/boyle-square_3c47c0b025d92c7ac422c40e7070331e.jpg","width":739,"height":739}}],"first_published_utc":"2014-04-11 22:46:51 Z","last_published_utc":"2014-04-15 02:32:21 Z","sections":[{"title":"Science","slug":"science"},{"title":"Nightly News","slug":"nightly-news"}],"topics":[{"title":"Space","slug":"space"},{"title":"Cosmic Log","slug":"cosmic-log"}],"feature":[],"show":[],"storyline":[],"tags":[],"id":"NewsCms/Entry/78411","externalId":"78411","externalSource":"NewsCms","main_art":{"caption":"Akira Fujii captured this record of the moon's progress dead-center through Earth's shadow in July 2000 by aligning his camera on the same star for successive exposures.","url":"http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_15/319041/140411-coslog-moon_cc2f10d6096a1c47363c5f7dea0b2f91.jpg","credit":null,"source":"Akira Fujii / Sky & Telescope file","alt_text":"Image: Lunar eclipse","width":3300,"height":1600,"title":"Image: Lunar eclipse"}}]};
var storylineBootstrapJson = {"results":[{"name":"School Stabbing Spree","slug":"school-stabbing-spree","last_modified_utc":"2014-04-15T04:28:02Z","count":51},{"name":"Missing Jet","slug":"missing-jet","last_modified_utc":"2014-04-15T01:23:29Z","count":487},{"name":"Jewish Center Shootings","slug":"jewish-center-shootings","last_modified_utc":"2014-04-15T00:57:04Z","count":13}]};
var marqueeBootstrapJson = {"stats":{"totalResults":0,"requestedAt":"2014-04-15 04:29:25 Z","executionTime":0,"ra":"s03","rd":"s06"},"marquee":null};
Frank Eltman / AP