Patrick the curmudgeon wrote:

Respectfully, Kurt, telling the public that there's a penumbral eclipse coming is the sort of thing Chuck warned about earlier today. . . . . It _might_ be a good idea to mention the eclipse but only to warn folks that it's not going to be anything worth looking at. patrick the curmudgeon :)

There are two groups of public celestial events: those that are commonly experienced with the naked eye by the general public and those that require a more practiced background to appreciate.  The "bright moon" of last month is a good example - where the full Moon coincides with the lunar perigee.  A couple of people with no astronomical background commented on it to me.  Another example are wide-field planetary conjunctions, e.g. - "Kurt, what are those two bright things in the southwest that I saw at sunset last night?  I know one is Venus."  (The bright-Moon-at-perigree will repeat again on Jan. 10, 2009 - the only event of that type in 2009.)  The second category are those that require more explanation.  Meteor showers (except the Persids) most often fall into this category.  Interpreting difficult to understand events to the average reader by clear, plain writing is what newspapers and members of the Society for Professional Journalists do for business.  It is a problem not unknown to them. The major problem that I see in local science reporting is a failure to understand the material, basic reporting errors or editors unfamilar with the topic who cut important text out.  TV media are more often the problem in this area, e.g. - announcing 100 per our meteor showers without checking that a full Moon will be up and will wash out the sky - making the shower unobservable. Again, another easily solved problem with your and Chuck's counsel.   - Kurt the Sméagol :) P.S. - Sheena,  A list of planetary conjunctions for Salt Lake during 2009 (and 12/30/2008) between about 6pm and 6am local time: http://members.csolutions.net/fisherka/astronote/plan/2009UtConjunctions.txt  Each entry needs to be confirmed that it is visible as the date rolls up. These are generally followed using the RASC Observer's Guide, the Sky and Telescope Weekly Calendar, and/or Abrams Planetarium Calendar. S&T Calendar http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance  Abram's Skynotes (there is a separate monthly calendar subscription) http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/nightskynotes/nightskynotes.xml