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The Moon at Totality!
(click on image for full size)
A rare total lunar eclipse occurs on the night of the northern winter
solstice! I have waited for quite some time for such an imaging opportunity, so just once I can capture a decent set of lunar eclipse images. This is that night! So I stayed up for the entire event, and it was so worth it, even though I was almost ill for the next two days. Some of us don't do well on the full night shift! Measured by the results, at least for me, it was a morning worth
fighting against the ever so sleepy eyes!
Eclipse Timing Details: The eclipse begins on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am CST. At that time, Earth's shadow will
appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the lunar disk. It takes about
an hour for the "bite" to expand and swallow the entire Moon. Totality
commences at 01:41 am CST and lasts for 72 minutes.
This image is one of my favorites of the night, taken during totality. The delightful coppery red color is picked up as light from the Sun is refracted around and through the Earth's atmosphere to reach the Moon to lightly illuminate it while remains lurking in the Earth's shadow.
Before the eclipse began, you could literally read the newspaper in the brilliant light reflected by the full moon. By this time at totality, if you did not know where to look for the Moon, it is so dark in the sky that you likely will not find it!
Photo details: Canon 300D
DSLR, Astro-Tech AT80ED 80mm APO refractor, 0.5 focal reducer, mounted
on Meade LX90 8" telescope for tracking. Exposure: 5s, ISO 800.
Watauga Skies Observatory
Location: Watauga, Texas
Date: 12/21/2010 - 02:12 a.m., CST
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