April 15, 2014

  • Eclipse April 15, 2014

    Last night there was a total eclipse of the moon at 12:07 am.  Although that is pretty late for me, I decided that if the sky was clear I would stay up to see it, as it was widely advertised that there would be blood moon -- a red glow while the moon was totally eclipsed.  I took several shots along the way -- the following are the best.  At 9 pm, the moon was fully risen, and a beautiful full moon in a clear sky (not quite in focus, but better than others).

    IMGP8995-001

    By 11 pm, a shadow was beginning to show up on the left side of the moon.  The sky was still clear, and there was a fairly bright star just above the moon.

    IMGP8996-001

    At midnight I took 2 more shots, but the moon was so far gone that it does not show up in the pictures, even fully blown up on the computer.  It was a tiny sliver of bright light on the right side, about half the size of a new moon, and somewhat hidden by the fog that was forming as part of our June gloom!

    Neither of the above shots had any color enhancement -- I think the first had more color than the second because it was closer to the horizon's polluted air.  The second was much higher in the sky, and seen through much less pollution.

Comments (21)

  • Nice shots Janet, I like the 2nd one better. The early shots, not full eclipse came out ok, but all the rest didn't, I usually have moon shots wired, not last night and I stayed up til 10:30 lol. I have a few but it doesn't show the red very well. I got to see it ok, just had to wait til the clouds cleared.

    • Thanks -- yes, the 2nd shot is better, and it does show just the beginning of the shadow. Too bad the fog rolled in just at full shadow! Glad you saw it too!

  • on flickr there are some good ones of the blood red.
    I can enjoy other people's photos,

    you made a good attempt anyway.

  • Exactly! I was up and we got the complete blood moon at 2 a m. But because the moon was so high up above, I did not get good shots. The eclipse started here around midnight and I kept watching its progress. Sometimes insomnia pays for good views of the sky.
    Your pictures are beautiful Janet.

    • Thanks, Zakiah! I'm glad you saw the eclipse and the red color. I do hope that I'll get to see at least one of the others later this year.

  • What are you doing up past midnight? Weren't you afraid you would turn into a pumpkin?

  • Beautiful photos!
    I got to watch it all! (Of course that meant being wrapped up in a blanket and sitting outside for over an hour and a half with a friend!)
    When it was red, it was so beautiful! :-)
    My friend trying to take photos, but couldn't get any good ones. :-(
    HUGS!!! :-)

    • I hope I'll get to see the red later this year! It's hard to photograph the moon even when it's not eclipsed -- there's not much to photograph when there's no light! (((hugs)))

  • a lot of people, including me, were disappointed by cloud cover last night ~ couldn't see the moon at all! Your photos are lovely ~

    • Thanks, fwren -- I was disappointed, too, that the fog rolled in just as the moon was almost completely covered in shadow, so I couldn't see the spectacular red or the full cycle! Glad you enjoyed what I was able to shoot!

  • It was completely obscured by our clouds! No chance of seeing any part of it here, Thanks for the photos - I'm just a little jealous. Too bad the full eclipse didn't show up in the photos...

    • I think I might have been able to shoot the eclipse if the fog hadn't rolled in just at the wrong time! But there's not much light when it's in full shadow, so maybe not!

  • The moon I saw was hardly blood red, but it was fascinating to see it and Mars so close by.

    • I'm glad you saw the moon -- the fog rolled in right at midnight here, and just as the eclipse entered its fullest phase :-( !

  • That's probably as good as you can get without a telescope.

  • Awesome! It must have been neat to see, but I was already asleep by then.

    • It was neat, but unfortunately the fog covered it up just as the eclipse became complete, so I didn't get to see the red color!

  • We missed out here in Southwest Ohio, as we got rain and then snow!! I was really looking forward to seeing it too! :(

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