Total Lunar Eclipse

I made a point of watching this morning's total Lunar eclipse, a super blue blood Moon, to get some photos for Skywatch Friday (that's a total solar eclipse and a total lunar eclipse in just over five months). It's super because it's at the closest point to Earth in its orbit. Here the Earth's shadow is just starting to touch it.

It's blue simply because that's what the second full Moon of a month is called. Here it's almost gone.

It's blood because that's the color it turns when totally covered by the Earth's shadow, only getting sunlight refracted through our atmosphere. I took the dogs for a walk under this very dim red moonlight.

And as if nature hadn't blessed us with enough beauty for one day, driving to work a few minutes later I took the following photo.

Solar Eclipse

We went to Wyoming to see the total solar eclipse, and here's a montage of photos I took. I've always wanted to see a total solar eclipse, and it was absolutely fantastic. No photos can begin to convey the experience. 99% of totality isn't the same - if you can ever get out to see one it's worth the effort.

Here's the center one blown up. The dot on the lower left is the planet Mercury.

Skywatch Friday

Super Eclipse

Of course I have to post my photos of Sunday's Supermoon Eclipse for Skywatch Friday. I went to a local park with a lake and set up my tripod.

We were lucky as the eclipse had started when the Moon rose, so we got to see it low in the sky. At the beginning some thin clouds made the Moon even more mysterious.

But they cleared out and left a perfect view.

The eclipsed Moon reflecting off the lake was wonderful and eerie.

And for my last shot I used a wide angle and played with a flashlight on nearby trees.

It was a great experience and I was home by 9PM!

Annular Solar Eclipse

We happened to be driving to Albuquerque on Sunday (more on this brief but long road trip later), and of course I had to pull off the road to see the annular solar eclipse, which was fully visible from our location. I don't have the right equipment to get worthwhile photos but I did manage to get a couple that I want to post.

This was one of the most amazing natural things I've ever seen in my life, and I wish my photographs did it justice. And it's an obvious choice for my Skywatch Friday post.

Lunar Eclipse

We had a total lunar eclipse tonight. This is where I wish I had a great telephoto lens, something like a high quality 500mm, but that's not in the budget for the foreseeable future. So I'll just have to make do with what I have and crop it.