Thursday, February 21, 2008

Total Lunar Eclipse

While I am thawing out, here are some images from the total lunar eclipse that is still visible in the sky as I write. The temperature is very cold (-15C) but that has given us clear skies so I am not complaining.

I am glad to have these grainy pictures, but the eclipse was extraordinarily beautiful to watch without a scope. The red moon, the planet Saturn, and the star Regulus from the constellation of Leo were spectacular.


This was the most difficult phase to capture on camera as the contrast between the bright moon light and the partially eclipsed orb made focusing a challenge. Becka got the best picture of the night. It is posted here in Flickr and needs to viewed in large to see the detail. I hope to see some other pictures taken of this event and to learn how to get better images of a darkening moon. The next total lunar eclipse is in 2010!

16 comments:

  1. Lovely pictures.

    The odds are always so much against seeing eclipses in the UK because we have so much cloud.

    Great post :-)

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  2. Thanks Rob. We have had cloud 90% of the time this winter, so this clear night was a real gift in spite of the cold.

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  3. Oh, I am so jealous! Our moon was huge and until 9:45 was clearly visible, and then the clouds rolled in so that by 10AM when I should have been seeing this beautiful sight, it was no where to be seen. :c(

    Thanks for sharing what I wish I'd seen too!

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  4. Uh, make that by 10PM.... sheesh.

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  5. Wow! Your pictures turned out much better than mine! It really was beautiful, though, wasn't it?

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  6. You did well. I tried eclipse pictures once and wasn't thrilled by the results.

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  7. Great pics (I checked Becka's out as well). I didn't even attempt pictures with my camera. I had tried some moon pictures the night before with absolutely NO success. I'm glad we had the excuse of the eclipse to get us out into the night!

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  8. I had the heavy clouds roll in, too. But I'm glad you are sharing, Ruth! I'll go check Becka's now.

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  9. I enjoyed watching the eclipse too.-I don't know why I didn't take any photos-I guess I was feeling a little lazy at the time but you captured some nice photos.

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  10. Anonymous9:25 pm GMT-5

    it was cold for sure and thanks for sharing these pictures (being that I was in my vehicle while this all was happening)! It was splendid and can't wait till 2010 for the next one!

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  11. Jayne- Sorry you missed it. The pictures do not do it justice.

    AC- We threw out dozens of blurry pictures. I was a real challenge to catch enough light once the eclipse started even with a tripod and various exposures.

    CS- The camera was distracting. At times I just enjoyed the view and will store those images in my mind's eye.

    Mary- I think your clouds are coming our way now. I was overjoyed to see a clear night. (unusual this winter)

    Jean- thanks...it was fun having my daughter share my camera.

    Larry- If it had been warmer, I would have sat out in a lawn chair and enjoyed the view. It was so cold, you had to do something!

    Tom- I hope you saw it from your vehicle. If I had the opportunity to see owls, I think I would choose that over the eclipse.

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  12. Cool pics, Ruth. Well, you have some time to get ready.
    I watched it also, and took one pic that looks like the moon. The rest look like 3 moons--light bouncing the image all around.

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  13. Great photos (especially by the Becka). We were at church for our weekly soup supper before our Lenten Service, but we had clouds rolling in and out. So we didn't really get to see the entire eclipse. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. Beautiful shots, Ruth. And dang! I didn't know Saturn was up there. Wahhhhh. I didn't know to look for it. Was it close to the moon?

    Becka did get a great pix.

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  15. KGMom- You didn't need a camera to enjoy the eclipse. It made me feel very small indeed.

    MaryC- Maybe your view will be better next time. Our last eclipse was obscured by clouds.

    Cathy- In Becka's picture you can see the two "stars". Saturn is lower and Regulus is higher. When the moon was darkened they became visible.

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