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Total eclipse of the moon. Did you see it?
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 4:14 am
by CarlBrannen
The clouds briefly parted over Seattle / Redmond and I got to watch the moon transition to totality accompanied by a few stars. Of course in the middle of the city, with humid air and all, the viewing wasn't perfect, but for the area I was surprised. I couldn't photograph the full eclipse as it was too dark for my camera, but I was able to get a photograph of the moon when it was almost total. The moon is reduced to a line:
Re: Total eclipse of the moon. Did you see it?
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:24 pm
by axiomofchoice
I saw it near 3am EST - kinda reddish funny looking, but I don't find it particularly interesting. Guess I'm not of astronomer chop.
Re: Total eclipse of the moon. Did you see it?
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:16 pm
by CarlBrannen
Billions of kilograms of matter, moving under the inexorable laws of gravitation became aligned so exactly as to shield a body (an airless orb accustomed to the glare of almost endless light) from the billions of watts of a star's radiation and you didn't find it fun to watch?
Re: Total eclipse of the moon. Did you see it?
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:12 pm
by midwestphysics
CarlBrannen wrote:Billions of kilograms of matter, moving under the inexorable laws of gravitation became aligned so exactly as to shield a body (an airless orb accustomed to the glare of almost endless light) from the billions of watts of a star's radiation and you didn't find it fun to watch?
I agree it is awesome, unfortunately I had nothing but cloud cover which sucked.
Re: Total eclipse of the moon. Did you see it?
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:17 pm
by CarlBrannen
midwestphysics wrote:I agree it is awesome, unfortunately I had nothing but cloud cover which sucked.
Amazing what a little photo enhancement can do:
Re: Total eclipse of the moon. Did you see it?
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:20 pm
by midwestphysics
Wow, yeah that's a great picture. I can't understand how someone could look up and not be in astonishment. Not trying to knock anyone, but I could look at a photo like that and study it for hours.
Re: Total eclipse of the moon. Did you see it?
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:42 pm
by axiomofchoice
It definitely would be much more interesting if I don't know what's going on
Now the picture is much more interesting than staring at the moon with naked eyes. It's a bit of a letdown looking at that smallish moon in the sky after I expected to see some awesome things. I'd enjoy it more if I have a telescope or even a decent camera. Maybe there's redemption for me as an astronomer, after all.
Re: Total eclipse of the moon. Did you see it?
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:58 pm
by The_Duck
I watched the beginning of totality through a telescope; it was pretty fun.