Lunar eclipse

[gregj1763]

Been trying to post this since Thursday and finally read Dave's thread about Tiny Pic's, serve's me right for not paying attention.
Anyway we had a total lunar eclipse here in Oz on Wednesday night and while this sort of image has been done to death it was one I wanted to tick off my photography list.
I was up until 3am sitting on a pontoon on the Tamar river, a long night but happy enough with the result for a first effort at this sort of thing.
C&C welcome.
Cheers, Greg

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[Stagecoach]

Excellent.

[JBW]

love it

[chauncey]

nicely done

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Lots better than my efforts turned out. Well done I say.

[Wavelength]

Great capture; i have some doubt; from here we saw Earth's shadow covering moon from one side and leaving from the other side; in your image shadow is moving alike on both sides of the moon; further in the total eclipse the red moon is fully visible; Your place being more close to Equator, is there any difference in view from other places? just confused
Regards

[Tronhard]

Absolutely wonderful series Greg! I am truly envious... Of course we were about 3 hours ahead of you time-wise, but it was a cloudy night so that was that. I am so glad you got the right conditions for the series and a just reward for you determination to do so.

[JBW]

Great capture; i have some doubt; from here we saw Earth's shadow covering moon from one side and leaving from the other side; in your image shadow is moving alike on both sides of the moon; further in the total eclipse the red moon is fully visible; Your place being more close to Equator, is there any difference in view from other places? just confused
Regards

Nan, perhaps our monitor is out a bit the center shot is red.

[Tronhard]

Yep... the centre shot looks dull red to me...

Brian, I think if you look at the map Tasmania, being at the bottom of Australia, is further from the equator than the Phiippines, but also being summer down here the earth is tilted towards the sun and that may change the angle of incidence to the moon and thus the impact on the umbra as you see it. I am no astronomer and I would love an expert opinion on that one for my own information!

[JBW]

Yep... the centre shot looks dull red to me...

Brian, I think if you look at the map Tasmania, being at the bottom of Australia, is further from the equator than the Phiippines, but also being summer down here the earth is tilted towards the sun and that may change the angle of incidence to the moon and thus the impact on the umbra as you see it. I am no astronomer and I would love an expert opinion on that one for my own information!

everyone understands I'm not a techno but here's my understanding: The moon turns more or less red during a total eclipse because the light that reaches it is filtered through the earth's atmosphere. With two active volcanoes near us we had a really red Blood moon. Here's a link that might clarify things.

[Tronhard]

Hi Brian that is my understanding too.

As I said - and that's what I see: On my screen the moon in umbra looks a dull red so that is in alignment with your view.

When I photographed an eclipse of a blood moon a couple of years back I got this progression - before having an unfortunate accident and falling over backwards, but that's another story...


I understand that where one is on the planet can make a difference as to one's perception of that. Nope, I'm no expert either (FAR from it!!), but I wonder if our different latitudes have an impact? Hoping there is some expert out there who will shed light on this shadowy issue...

[JBW]

I'm about 10* north of the equator and I saw the progression that Greg posted. I would argue that I saw a redder version because of the volcanic action in the Philippines.

"Thttp://moonblink.info/Eclipse/why/lunarotal Eclipse
A total lunar eclipse is when the Moon is completely shadowed by the Earth. The Moon passes through the Earth's umbra, and no direct light can reach it from the Sun. However, the Earth's atmosphere refracts — or bends — light, at the same time filtering it, so that it illuminates the Moon with a dark red colour. Depending on the prevailing condition of the Earth's atmosphere, in terms of cloud cover and dust from volcanic eruptions, the actual colour of the Moon at totality can vary from near black (particularly at mid-totality), to rust, brick red, or bright copper-red or even orange."

[Artshot]

Great job on getting the timing exact. You'd think it was a mirror image if the surface features didn't move with the moon.

[Tronhard]

Can't argue with your logic Brian!

It's interesting about the volcano effect. We had the same issue in BC when we had forest fires pumping smoke and dust into the upper atmosphere.

[gregj1763]

Thanks Nandakumar,
The eclipse started from right to left as you view it in my image and I could not be further from the Equator if I tried, Tasmania is way down, next stop Antarctica
Glad you like the image.
Regards, Greg

[gregj1763]

Absolutely wonderful series Greg! I am truly envious... Of course we were about 3 hours ahead of you time-wise, but it was a cloudy night so that was that. I am so glad you got the right conditions for the series and a just reward for you determination to do so.

Sorry to hear you missed out mate, we had clear skies that night, the next night was a total blanket of cloud so I was lucky.
I have seen your conversation with Brian regarding the red centre shot and that is pretty much how it was. We had a total eclipse here so was far as I understand how this works the suns light light bends around the edge of Earth. This light gets reflected onto the moon but as it travels through our atmosphere it filters out the shorter-wavelength blue light, leaving the reds and orange unscathed to bathe the moon's surface, one red moon
PS it was cold and I had the next day off work, Im the boss so I didn't get in trouble lol

[gregj1763]

Great job on getting the timing exact. You'd think it was a mirror image if the surface features didn't move with the moon.

Hi Art, These are a few I selected from about 50 shots taken during the night, I took a photo ever 10 minutes or so just to keep awake . I picked what I thought looked the best, a little bit of editing to balance exposure etc and put the image together in CC.
Its an image I'm quite happy with as I planned it, executed it and processed it. There are way better photos out there like this of course, but as a mug photographer its OK.
I appreciate the feedback from you and the others that have commented.
Regards, Greg

[gregj1763]

Lots better than my efforts turned out. Well done I say.

Thank you Alan, did you have a clear night