Lunar Eclipse Presentations

Apr 21, 2014

Typically, good weather and singular (or practically singular) astronomy events do not always coincide for me. Well, to be honest, the last time I can recall such a cosmic coordination of circumstances was nearly 10 years ago when I was hoping to photograph the near occultation of Comet Machholz with the Pleiades, an image which actually won me a Sky and Telescope Contest award a year or two later.

Coming after my NEAIC/NEAF visit, I was Jonesing for some total lunar eclipse action and the skies acquiesced, letting me shoot over 450 individual images of the moon during the entire eclipse cycle. I have posted a couple of “presentations” of these images to my webpage (and Facebook).

The first presentation, shown above, are selected shots at some of the major parts of the cycle, from the moon’s entry into earth’s umbra, through to its “blood moon” appearance - an awful name given by people who have obviously never seen actual blood - and its final escape from earth’s shadow.

The second, a poster format detailing the times of key points of the event from my home in Grapevine, Texas, shows the normal moon split in half on both sides, signifying Luna’s return to normalcy.

I have no plans to print these out in the near future, but maybe some day I will find a cost effective way of doing so. I hope you enjoy them!