Sunday, September 16, 2007

The Short Lunar Eclipse


On Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at 4:40 AMI grabbed my binoculars, camera, and telescope accessories case and headed out the door. The full moon illuminated the way to my chair, table and telescope that had been set up in the front yard the night before. Bad idea. The telescope had fallen prey to the night dew. Nice if one likes that foggy look to everything. No problem, my binoculars and camera were fine.

I live in the New Hampshire. I knew that the moon would set before reaching totality, but I thought I would see a bit more than half the moon eclipsed before it sank out of view. I forgot to figure in the geography of my western horizon - a tall pine-tree-studded hillside. My viewing can be summed up with this little list:

Totality occurred at 5:52 AM,
The moon set below a clear NH horizon at 6:09 AM
The moon set below my tree-lined hilltop horizon at 5:25 AM

The eclipse was beautiful, although brief.


Fortunately, there will be another total lunar eclipse on February 20, 2008. I have already checked. My western horizon will not be a problem. As long as the Nor'easters stay away, I just might see the entire eclipse and end up with a full set of eclipse photos.

Here's to clear skies and low horizons!

4 comments:

Renie Burghardt said...

Hi again, Tina,

Great report on the short lunar eclipse. Your pictures are beautiful! I missed seeing it, unfortunately. Maybe I can catch the one in February of 2008. You'll have to remind me of it, though, later.

Such a great entry, Tina. And I am going to add a link to your blog, under my favorite blogs, on my page, so people can discover your lovely writing style!

Take care!

Renie

Tina Coruth said...

Renie,

I will be sure to remind you of the February eclipse. I'm looking forward to it. It's been a while since I have seen a entire eclipse.

Thank you for your kind comments and the link. I haven't quite finished filling in all the features on this blog, but I will soon. I want to add your wonderful blog to my favorites. It is definitely one of my very favorites!

I'll be visiting soon.

hugs,
Tina

Mary said...

Tina,

I'd missed this and am glad I found it. I love your photo of the eclipse and now I know there is another one coming soon. Always enjoy your writings on the night sky.

Take care,
Mary

Tina Coruth said...

Mary,

Thank you! I am looking forward to the next one. This time we will be able to see the entire eclipse. :-)

hugs,
Tina