Stargazing Total eclipse of the moon tonight.

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Tonight's total lunar eclipse will completely darken the full moon, with viewing times varying by location; in the UK, it occurs from 3:00 to 4:00 GMT. Observers in the US west coast may face overcast skies, while those in Northern South Jersey report a 90% chance of snow. Many participants express excitement about viewing the eclipse, sharing their experiences and challenges with weather conditions and visibility. The discussion includes personal anecdotes and humor, highlighting the communal aspect of watching the event. Overall, the thread captures the anticipation and camaraderie surrounding the lunar eclipse.
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If the last one was any indication, tonight's total eclipse will completely darken the entire full moon. Just remember, never look directly at the moon without protection. My girl and I were gazing at the full moon one night twenty years ago and now we're married with two kids.
 
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The eclipse is quite late if you're in the UK, from about 3:00 - 4:00 GMT. Don't know if I'll get a picture tonight like last years.
 
It will be just at sunset here on the US west coast, unfortunately it looks like it will be overcast.
 
jimmysnyder said:
Just remember, never look directly at the moon without protection. My girl and I were gazing at the full moon one night twenty years ago and now we're married with two kids.
Grrrr. <D H wipes coffee from screen> That post should have come with some kind of spray warning.
 
Integral said:
It will be just at sunset here on the US west coast, unfortunately it looks like it will be overcast.
The whole show lasts a little over 2 hours. Here in the People's Republic of Northern South Jersey, it will begin at 8:45 pm. The forecast is for bright sunny skies tonight with a 90% chance of snow. Forget the moon, we won't even be able to see the Earth.
 
jimmysnyder said:
TForget the moon, we won't even be able to see the Earth.

:smile:

I don't think I have much chance of seeing it. It's going to be too close to sunset, and supposedly while the moon is still low in the sky, which means it'll likely still be hidden behind the trees if I try to view it from home (and given that the forecast here is similar to that in the People's Republic of Northern South New Jersey :smile:, I'm not planning to be anywhere BUT at home to watch). But, maybe I'll get lucky and it'll happen while in a gap between trees, or just over the tree line.
 
Moonbear said:
South New Jersey.
That's South Jersey. South New Jersey is a fictitious land created by Joyce Kilmer in his famous poem: 'I never met a tree I didn't like'.
 
We've got sporadic cloud cover, with more of the same expected tonight. May get a glimpse of it through some sucker-holes,though, if I can stand the cold long enough. We've had 20-30 mph winds all day with much higher gusts and it shows no sign of letting up. Combine that with our normal single-digit night temps and BRRRR!

Maine is so far east that we really should be in the Maritime time zone, so the sky should be very dark with the Moon at a good elevation. Hmm...the Independent Republic of South Canada...that has a nice ring to it.
 
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We're in NM, and I can see why it was chosen early on for atom bomb tests...

Anyway, we gots a mass of cold wet air due to get here just before sunset. When the eclipse gets going. Integral gave us that nice cloudy mass, it's all his fault.
 
  • #10
jimmysnyder said:
That's South Jersey. South New Jersey is a fictitious land created by Joyce Kilmer in his famous poem: 'I never met a tree I didn't like'.

How about New South Jersey? Perhaps that's what we should rename Delaware. :biggrin:
 
  • #11
jimmysnyder said:
The whole show lasts a little over 2 hours. Here in the People's Republic of Northern South Jersey, it will begin at 8:45 pm. The forecast is for bright sunny skies tonight with a 90% chance of snow. Forget the moon, we won't even be able to see the Earth.

Bright sunny skies tonight?
 
  • #12
tribdog said:
Bright sunny skies tonight?

The residents of The People's Republic of Northern South Jersey don't really have the best education system (that, or they have something far more interesting than an eclipse happening there). :smile:

Good catch!

So, will you be spending the night howling at the moon?
 
  • #13
tribdog said:
Bright sunny skies tonight?
It's an eclipse, silly. The light from the sun will be bent clear round Cape May, up the Parkway and along the White Horse Pike.
 
  • #14
Moonbear said:
The residents of The People's Republic of Northern South Jersey don't really have the best education system.
We had the no child left behind program long before you guys. I'll have my grandpa to explain it to you as soon as he gets back from school tonight.
 
  • #15
Moonbear said:
So, will you be spending the night howling at the moon?

Nah, neighbor keeps throwing shoes at me when I try.
 
  • #16
Jim, your in NM, what part? Yeah really sucks that we got this crappy weather tonight as its right after dark here. Damn you weather!

BTW, shouldn't this be in Astronomy?
 
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  • #17
Clear shot of the moon, up my neighbors driveway and inbetween her trees!
 
  • #18
Kurdt said:
The eclipse is quite late if you're in the UK, from about 3:00 - 4:00 GMT. Don't know if I'll get a picture tonight like last years.

I might try to stay awake, but I doubt I'll manage it! Plus I'm not exactly in the right place to be viewing: I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but in London it's pretty cloudy.
 
  • #19
The eclipse is going to start here in about 1 hour and a perfectly clear shot from my window.
 
  • #20
cristo said:
I might try to stay awake, but I doubt I'll manage it! Plus I'm not exactly in the right place to be viewing: I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but in London it's pretty cloudy.

Well I don't have any commitments at the moment so I could stay up. Unfortunately the weather in Newcastle is cloudy too. Also I live on a hill and I just realized that the moon is behind the hill during the eclipse. Never mind :rolleyes:
 
  • #21
Evo said:
The eclipse is going to start here in about 1 hour and a perfectly clear shot from my window.

Take some piccies Evo :smile: *bats eyelids*
 
  • #22
Evo said:
I need something better than a camera phone. My older daughter has a 12 megapixel camera. I called her to ask if she'll be taking pictures.

This won't cut it.

moonan7.jpg

Come on over Kurdt, the actual view will be spectacular.
 
  • #23
Ooh, the moon is high enough for me to see, and it's just starting (a little sliver of moon is darkening). Cloud cover is iffy though...about 10 min ago, the moon was completely hidden by clouds.
 
  • #24
Evo said:
Come on over Kurdt, the actual view will be spectacular.

I'd love to if I could move like superman.
 
  • #25
A chunk of the moon is missing. When it gets larger I will take another picture with my 2 megapixel cell phone. Where is spawn and her ultracam?
 
  • #26
I have an excellent view out my bay window with my astro binos.

That's Saturn to the left of and below the Moon.
 
  • #27
Here's the first photo I took (I took another a few moments ago, but my hand was apparently too shaky and it didn't come out well).

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/7273/22008eclipse1hl4.jpg
 
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  • #28
Here was my effort from last year for comparison.

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/2113/lunareclipse030307hb7.jpg
 
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  • #29
Kurdt said:
Here was my effort from last year for comparison.

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/2113/lunareclipse030307hb7.jpg
Ooooh, Yeah last year was so clear, but I didn't have the camera you have, great shot Kurdt!
Last year, the moon was huge. This year it's smaller.

Moonbear's image is what it looks like this year.
 
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  • #30
I'm watching now... only a fingernail left...
 
  • #31
Looks kinda red.
 
  • #33
I suppose I could crop the images more to make the moon look bigger (I'm already doing a lot of cropping just to make them visible within reasonable sizes for posting here).

Down to a sliver now.
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/1994/22008eclipse2ni7.jpg
 
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  • #34
Evo said:
Ooooh, Yeah last year was so clear, but I didn't have the camera you have, great shot Kurdt!
Last year, the moon was huge. This year it's smaller.

I had a 6.5 mega pixel camera and just used a 300mm lens last year if I remember correctly.
 
  • #35
Moonbear said:
I suppose I could crop the images more to make the moon look bigger (I'm already doing a lot of cropping just to make them visible within reasonable sizes for posting here).

Down to a sliver now.
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/1994/22008eclipse2ni7.jpg
Great[/URL] shots MB!
 
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  • #36
Thanks. I don't own a tripod, so am just doing my best to steady my arm on my doorframe! It's too cold to step any further outside (only 10 F tonight, and snow on the ground...brrrr!)
 
  • #38
Last year, the moon was so large, this year it's so small. Last year was much better as far as getting good shots. I think MB is doing a great job for this year. Go MB!
 
  • #39
Yes, nice work, MB!
Stupid clouds moved in at the really exciting point here.
 
  • #40
Next series of photos:
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/207/22008eclipse3js7.jpg
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/7580/22008eclipse4cp0.jpg
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/2514/22008eclipse5xf8.jpg

I think I was starting to need longer exposures with the dimmer views, but with a hand-held camera, I don't think that was going to work.
 
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  • #41
Very cool!
 
  • #42
The sky is very clear here tonight in New Hampshire. Nice and dry too. I should head to the observatory!
 
  • #43
Math Is Hard said:
Yes, nice work, MB!
Stupid clouds moved in at the really exciting point here.

I got lucky that the clouds moved away just in time. If it weren't so freezing cold outside, it's gorgeous for viewing the stars right now. The sky is sort of framed in clouds, but the area with the moon is totally clear, and the stars are absolutely brilliant around it with the complete eclipse. I do wish some of my neighbors would turn off their lights to improve the view even more, but at least with the snow on the ground, not too many of them are coming and going and blinding me with headlights while I'm trying to snap photos (though I did have to put Ember on her harness and wrap her leash around my ankle so she'd stop trying to escape...I think she'd reconsider once her little paws hit snow, but I don't want to find out!)
 
  • #44
Okay, this is the last one I think I'm taking...the moon is almost impossible to see in this shot, and I can't increase the exposure time without getting blurriness from shaking.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/9652/22008eclipse6wa8.jpg
 
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  • #45
Thanks MoonB! you've done a lunar job :biggrin:
 
  • #46
Great job MB! Thank you!

It completely clouded up here with the snow moving in and obliterated the view.
 
  • #47
Great shots, MoonBear! The moon's not entirely gone here, yet. It's still pretty coppery but going black quickly. It's so clear here tonight. This is the first time I've been able to see the whole thing.
 
  • #48
Nice shots, Moonbear.

Math Is Hard said:
Looks kinda red.

Because the sky is blue in the daytime!

The moon is not completely dark because the Earth's atmosphere act as a lens and bends some sunlight such that this light reaches the Moon even when the Moon is entirely within the Earth's shadow. The Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light off in all directions, so the the light that reaches the Moon is missing much of the blue and consequently looks red.

Anyone fly their Learjet up to Nova Scotia (near me)?

Oops, sorry, that's only for solar eclipses.
 
  • #49
I'm going to post pics soon. It was awsome until the moon went past the awning covered it up.
 
  • #50
GeorginaS said:
This is the first time I've been able to see the whole thing.

Same here! The eclipses have either been at some weird hour I couldn't be around for (or awake for), or on cloudy/rainy days, or just when I've been too busy to go outside and look, so this is the first time I really got to watch the whole thing progress. Really neat to watch!

Now I need to go check if a satellite has been blown up yet. :biggrin:
 

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