Wow!! I didn't think we'd get such a clear view here in the plains states--but the moon is almost gone!! There was a bright full moon an hour and a half ago and it's barely there right now. It's about to go completely dark. I don't think I've ever seen a lunar eclipse before. I love it.
4 hrs ago apperently... I didnt know at all, then again it must have been during european daylight so probably wasn't advertised..
I wasn't about to get up at 4AM, but I got this shot of the full moon at 11PM: (300mm zoom lens, f 5.6, 1/1250, hand held autofocus!)
Can I ask a question, why do people find lunar eclipses so fascinating? The cause is simple, the image is awe inspiring the first time you see it as a child. But after that... A summer full moon, hung low in the sky. Far more beautiful in my opinion.
It's kinda eerie, is all. I sat thru one in the neighborhood once and you could hear all the dogs barking out there in the dark.
I guess... I just don't get the same feeling from it. Not to rain on anyone else's parade. I was just wondering, is all.
Because it happens so rarely, that's why. It's part of the cosmic ballet. Why wouldn't a person want to see it?
They aren't really that rare, at least two a year. It's just dependent on location of viewing. Perhaps my childhood study of planets and space has spoiled me a little. As I said, the first time viewing it as a kid can be awe inspiering, but once you understand what it actually is, it's as simple as looking at your pet cat walk in your own shadow at night... And I'm not saying a person shouldn't want to see it. Just asking why people view it with such revere.
Because some of us didn't study the planets and we enjoy that sort of thing. I understand what the northern lights are. It doesn't mean I wouldn't want to see them or rain on the parade of someone who never had.
I was lucky...I loaded bombs (outdoors, of course) in Alaska on the mid-shift. Come winter time, we saw the Northern Lights constantly. Sometimes it's like a huge golden/green shimmering, shifting curtain waving, filling half the sky at times.
It's the universe in action. To watch a solar eclipse requires a certain amount of planning to avoid eye damage, and even then, one can't look directly at it without risk. A lunar eclipse, OTOH, requires nothing more than a reasonably cloudless night. I've watched two, and been spellbound both times...
I've had some form of telescope since i was 10. Ive spent hooouurs looking at they sky at night and seen many lunar eclipses. But i'd never miss one, they're wonderful, unnatural natural feeling things. Partial eclipses are great because the moon goes blood red, and full ones the moon seems to totaly disappear... great for pictures...
Now the Northern Lights I could get behind, or a meteor shower, or comet... The lunar eclipse just seems so... plain. I didn't intend to rain in on anyone's enjoyment. Just wondered what lead to that enjoyment.
I remember there was one lunar eclipse that occurred as the moon was a harvest moon. The effect was amazing...it looked like the moon had ballooned up at least five times its usual size. I was twelve when that happened, and as I only noticed it on the way to Back-to-School night, no one got a picture of it.
I missed this lunar eclipse... the last one I saw I thought heralded the end of the world, as it was when the Red Sox won the World Series.
