Total eclipse of the moon tonight.

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  • Thread starter Thread starter Jimmy Snyder
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    Eclipse Moon
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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses the total lunar eclipse occurring tonight, including various participants' experiences, expectations, and weather conditions affecting visibility. The conversation encompasses personal anecdotes, technical observations, and light-hearted exchanges related to the event.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express excitement about the total eclipse and share personal stories related to moon-gazing.
  • Several users mention specific timing for the eclipse in different locations, noting that it will occur around sunset in some areas.
  • Weather conditions are a common concern, with participants reporting overcast skies, cold temperatures, and the likelihood of not being able to see the eclipse.
  • Some participants discuss their viewing setups and equipment, including cameras and binoculars, while others joke about the challenges of visibility due to trees or clouds.
  • There are humorous exchanges about the fictional nature of "South New Jersey" and playful banter regarding local education systems.
  • Participants share their experiences of watching the eclipse in real-time, including descriptions of the moon's appearance and attempts to capture images.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share a common interest in the lunar eclipse, but there is no consensus on visibility due to varying weather conditions and locations. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the best viewing experiences and outcomes.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include varying local weather forecasts, personal viewing conditions, and the subjective nature of participants' experiences with the eclipse.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in astronomy, lunar events, or those looking for community engagement around celestial phenomena may find this discussion relevant.

  • #31
Looks kinda red.
 
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  • #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:
 
  • #51
I made a small bonfire and tried to keep warm, even made a few neighbors come out to watch. It was just grand, and did I mention COLD?
Love the photos, Moonbear. You did a really good job of them!
 
  • #52
Moonbear said:
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!

Exactly! And, really neat to watch.

The moon's not going entirely dark here -- "here" being Edmonton, Alberta -- but the sliver of light is going around the bottom clockwise. It's staying mostly copper coloured.
 
  • #53
The colour is indicative of atmospheric conditions at the time of eclipse for the reasons George Jones mentioned. I just wish I lived on the other side of the hill :(.
 
  • #54
GeorginaS said:
Exactly! And, really neat to watch.

The moon's not going entirely dark here -- "here" being Edmonton, Alberta -- but the sliver of light is going around the bottom clockwise. It's staying mostly copper coloured.

Yeah, I just noticed that. The cloud cover has returned here, so I guess I got to watch the eclipse and not the "recovery" from it. I was trying to figure out where the moon went and was surprised to see the sliver visible is now on the bottom of the moon, and not on the side where the shadow first appeared. I guess I was expecting the shadow to just continue sliding from one side to the other.

I read somewhere earlier that it would look redder if there were more particles in the atmosphere (like dust or clouds).
 
  • #55
As I'm sure you guys can imagine, I took quite a few pics. Here's one from 9:49, EST (outside of Philly). The forcast here was for clouds up until 11 or 12, but they cleared-out at 8:30 instead.

The camera was a 4 year old Fuji 4mp, 10x zoom (at max zoom). I think the exposure was 1/2 sec.

As much of an astronomy buff as I am, this was the first total eclipse I've seen. Through my entire life, I've just had bad luck with eclipses.
 

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  • #56
russ_watters said:
As I'm sure you guys can imagine, I took quite a few pics. Here's one from 9:49, EST (outside of Philly). The forcast here was for clouds up until 11 or 12, but they cleared-out at 8:30 instead.

The camera was a 4 year old Fuji 4mp, 10x zoom (at max zoom). I think the exposure was 1/2 sec.

Sure, make my photos look like fuzzballs by comparison now. :smile:

That's a great photo! I really need to get a tripod for such occasions so I can do long exposure shots (and I think I need to duct tape the cat to a chair to keep her from running out the door around me too, which was rather distracting).
 
  • #57
Ugh...I wish we'd been able to see sky!
 
  • #58
Evo, I'm a big fan of through-the-trees pics of the moon too. They add more to the scene. Here's one from earlier:

Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to get the background bright without washing-out the moon (unless you cheat and do a composite, which I might). It is only really possible when the moon is shining through thick haze, which acts as a diffuser for the light. I do have a really good shot like that from a few years ago...
 

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  • #59
Ooh, this site is cool. Wish I had found it before the eclipse so I'd have known which constellations I was looking at around it.

http://shadowandsubstance.com/
 
  • #60
Moonbear said:
Sure, make my photos look like fuzzballs by comparison now. :smile:

That's a great photo! I really need to get a tripod for such occasions so I can do long exposure shots (and I think I need to duct tape the cat to a chair to keep her from running out the door around me too, which was rather distracting).
Thanks.

That kind of camera is only about $300 these days and the long zoom and manual features come in handy sometimes. Also common now is a 2 second timer for use on a tripod so you aren't touching the camera when it fires.

I think the max exposure on the camera is 15 sec. Not a lot, but enough that galaxies and nebuae start showing up when you take wide field pics.
 
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