To follow up on my previous post... for Monday night's eclipse, I was out at my observatory where I had some thin clouds going by, but overall, it was a nice eclipse with   the moon going dark enough to see a lot of stars come out.  During the maximum of the eclipse, the moon had gone so dark that I was having a hard time seeing the marker at the center of my camera which I was using to insure the moon was centered for the shots. At the very end of totality, I was thnking about how quiet the night was.  The usual barking dogs, howling coyotes, and crowing roosters (yes, even at 2:30AM) were all silent, but just as the moon brightened up, an owl's screech cut through the silence.  Oh, well...




More photos and time-lapse videos at: http://astrocamera.net/2014/0414/

Lunar Eclipse Reminder

2004 Lunar eclipse

Just a reminder that a lunar eclipse will be happening starting around 11PM PDT (8PM for Hawaii). The entire eclipse is visible for most of the U.S. and takes around 3-1/2 hrs for the most interesting part (entry to exit of the deepest part of the earth's shadow). Mid-eclipse, when the moon should be darkest, is at about 12:45AM PDT (9:45PM HST).

Although the eclipse will be visible from virtually anywhere, it might be worthwhile to take a look from a dark place (away from all artificial lights)  because the moon will probably darken enough for the stars to come out if your eyes are given enough time to adapt  to the dark (15-30 minutes).   Nearby will be a bright orange-red Mars, which is near to its closest approach to Earth for this go-around.

Detailed timing information and charts:

- http://earthsky.org/tonight/total-lunar-eclipse-for-the-americas-on-night-of-april-14-15#total
- http://www.mreclipse.com/LEdata/TLE2014Apr15/TLE2014Apr15.html

If you want to try photographing it, here's some good info:

- http://www.mreclipse.com/LEphoto/LEphoto.html