I took some pictures of the total lunar eclipse. There are no stunning photos like you see online, but just a view of the progression of the eclipse as the earth’s shadow gradually passed over the moon.
It wasn’t a good day for photographing the moon. There were high clouds that would occasionally block the moon, and almost the whole time there were thin clouds in front of the moon that made it less clear, or ‘fuzzy’. I couldn’t get a nice foreground in the photograph because the eclipse occurred quite a while after moonrise, and the moon was high in the sky when the eclipse started. So, I just took pictures in the backyard, pointing the camera up high, and pointing higher and higher as the moon moved (the camera elevation angle started at about 50° and moved up to about 75°).
The composite picture shows 12 views of the moon as the eclipse progressed. Going from left to right, there are 4 photos leading up to the full eclipse, 4 during the full eclipse, and 4 as the eclipse is waning. During the full eclipse the moon is reddish in color, and hence the name ‘blood moon’. The clouds were too thick during the peak of the eclipse to get any photographs, but I got some before and after.
I used the GIMP program (similar to Adobe Photoshop) to create a composite picture. I found I could fit about 12 photos of the moon on one picture without making each moon too small.
I took pictures from about 8:30 until midnight. If you’re interested, here are the times for this eclipse:
07:37: Penumbra begins (can’t really see it)
08:34: Partial eclipse begins
09:41: Full eclipse begins
10:12: Maximum eclipse
10:43: Full eclipse ends
11:51: Partial eclipse ends
12:44: Penumbra ends
NOTE: The ‘penumbra’ is a ‘half shadow’ when a light source (e.g. the sun) is only partly covered by an object (e.g. the earth). The ‘umbra’ is the full shadow. The penumbral eclipse is difficult to see. (see here).
The last full lunar eclipse occurred back in September of 2015, and I posted about it here.
Despite the clouds, it was fun to watch this planetary motion in action, as the sun, earth, and moon all moved into alignment.
8 Comments
Wow, these are cool pics!
Thanks!
Cool pictures! At 8:33 Christy and I went outside and got a glimpse of the eclipse through a break in the cloud. We were impressed!! …..then we went back inside, both fell asleep, and never made it outside to see the full eclipse and the “red moon.” So seeing your pictures is neat!!
Thanks! At 8:33 it was approximately at the same phase as my 4th moon in the composite picture. At the ‘blood moon’ phase it is pretty dim, especially with clouds. Binoculars help.
Nice, Joey!
We watched it here in Mazatlan. No clouds. No photos with my phone!
You had a much nicer vantage point! I wish I was there, sipping a margarita and watching the eclipse.
I love these!!! Beautiful.
Thanks!