Author Topic: Lunar Eclipse Tonight  (Read 4479 times)

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Offline landofoz

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Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« on: Feb 20, 2008, 06:38:18 PM »
There is supposed to be a pretty cool lunar eclipse tonight.  This won't happen again until 2010 - the earth, sun, and moon are in perfect alignment.  This is what to expect:
Eclipses occur only at full moon when the sun, Earth and moon are in a perfect line. Because the moon's orbit around Earth is not perfectly aligned with the plane of Earth's orbit around the sun, eclipses do not occur at every full moon.

The moon will enter Earth's umbral shadow (the full shadow) at 8:43 p.m. ET (that's 7:43 p.m. Central, 6:43 p.m. Mountain and 5:43 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, Feb. 20. It will appear as though an ever-larger bite is being taken out of the moon.

Some 78 minutes later, the moon will slip into full eclipse. About 51 minutes later, a bright scallop will appear as the moon starts emerging. It will be completely out of the umbral shadow at 9:09 p.m. Pacific time, which is 12:09 a.m. ET on Thursday morning.


There might even be a blood moon out because all the sunrises and sunsets light will be bent in the atmosphere and directed onto the moon.  If you watch it - take pics for me!  It just got really cloudy here.   :SmileyFit:

Offline Tina

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #1 on: Feb 20, 2008, 07:54:53 PM »
It is very cloudy here and still daylight at that time. We will miss it in soCal.
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Offline Bonnie

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #2 on: Feb 20, 2008, 10:35:14 PM »
Thanks for posting this. I might have missed it if I hadn't read it. It was neato.
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Offline Jim

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #3 on: Feb 20, 2008, 11:07:00 PM »
I'm taking pictures.  Not sure they will turn out.  Experimenting with lots of different settings.  Maybe I'll get something.  I'll post them here tomorrow.
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Offline sunsoaker

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #4 on: Feb 20, 2008, 11:18:12 PM »
I took a few pics with my digital. Wasn't sure if anyone else would have the opportunity.  I cropped then and blew them up a bit.  The three indicated had longer exposures as my camera wouldn't even pick it up unless I did long exposure. That was during the totality of the eclipse. The color is really the color I was seeing with my eyes.  I think some of these could pass for "mysterious sitings" if we didn't know what they were.  I will just post a link to the gallery rather than post them all here.  Let me know if it doesn't work

http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s181/sunsoaker_post/eclipse/?albumview=link
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Offline Patty S

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #5 on: Feb 21, 2008, 01:47:49 AM »
I sure don't know what was up with the times that appeared on the exerpt from the space.com article that Sarah-loo quoted... as well as on farmersalmanac.com, where the same times were listed, cuz they were an hour off. :dunno:

It was barely after dusk, when Keith called my cell & told me to watch the moon.  (LaRelle & I were on our way home from shopping up north & stopping to see Sarah-bc.) I pulled in at the next rest area, set my camera on a post & started taking pics. Mine turned out much the same as Barb's (sunsoaker's) did.
          6:43PM (PST)
     

We were only about a half hour from home, so I took more when we got here...
          7:15PM (PST)
     

...then had to throw dinner together before I could get back outside, to get more shots.
          8:00PM (PST)
     

          8:15PM (PST)
     

By 9:00, the moon looked like it was pretty much back to normal, withthe exception of a little dent at the top. My zoom pics looked more like starbursts, but this one, taken on "non zoom" turned out better, I thought, than any of the ones I took, all evening! :rolleyes1: (Now I know, for next time, that taking pics in the regular mode, then cropping to bring things in closer, will be the best way to do take these kinds of pics with this camera.) :grinnnn:
     

I took about 50 shots, but most of them didn't turn out, cuz I had my cam on zoom for most of them, & all it takes is a teeny movement to mess them up. I don't have any fancy settings on my cheap-o digital... (just "zoom", which to me, is "fancy"!) :giggle:

Can't wait to see your pics, Jim.

« Last Edit: Feb 21, 2008, 02:37:09 AM by Patty S »

pharmerlaura

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #6 on: Feb 21, 2008, 07:07:01 AM »
Nice pics..That is what we saw too but we stayed indoors..too cold to go out & take pics.. we watched it out the living room window & laundry room. :applause: Thanks for the pics.. :BigGrin:

MassMama

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #7 on: Feb 21, 2008, 07:18:39 AM »
Wow Patty your pics turned out Great!! I missed the eclips all together! :Loser: cause I didn't catch the news or this thread!

Offline Tonya

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #8 on: Feb 21, 2008, 08:23:56 AM »
We watched it, but my camera batteries were dead :Crybaby: Thanks everyone for getting pics! We even let Summer stay up to watch! She was sooo excited to watch it all happen.

Offline Triss

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #9 on: Feb 21, 2008, 03:23:12 PM »
We watched last night as well.  I have to download my pics and see if any turned out.  I had a case of the shakey hands as well and I know most of the hundred or so I took were blurry.  With any luck some came out ok. 

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Offline sunsoaker

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #10 on: Feb 21, 2008, 09:18:17 PM »
Wow... you got a few really good pics.  I didn't get any near that good.  Thanks for posting them!
Dear Lord, On this day, please wrap your arm around my shoulder and keep your hand over my mouth.  Amen

Offline Jim

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #11 on: Feb 21, 2008, 09:33:53 PM »
By the time I figured out all the buttons on my camera, it was over.  I finally got the book out and got things set so I could at least experiment with the shutter speed.  The first few shots were too long and were not a good representation of what I was seeing.  The last two turned out the best.  Anyway I have a starting point now for taking pictures in the night sky.

I think you got some of the best shots Patty.  I got some that look just like yours Barb.







I need to get me a cable to screw into the shutter button.  I kept having to push it in the dark with the camera on the tripod and as you can see it was moving slightly.

« Last Edit: Feb 21, 2008, 09:35:33 PM by Jim »
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biita

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #12 on: Feb 22, 2008, 07:55:42 AM »
We didn't get to see the eclipse here because of rain,,, we stayed til 3 in the morning, it was clear, and dang if it didn't start to rain at 3am then didn't stop the rest of the morning,,, ohh well,, at least i get to see some awesome pics here.  Thank you for posting!!!

Offline Triss

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Re: Lunar Eclipse Tonight
« Reply #13 on: Feb 22, 2008, 11:46:11 AM »
Well I did not get any good pics at all of the moon... all blurry.  But I did get a couple of really neat pics.





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