Lunar Eclipse

Remember way back in April when we had a total lunar eclipse?  I do.  I have been waiting for years to see one.  We've had three total lunar eclipses in the last 5 or so years(I've lost track) and all of them were while it was overcast.  Seriously.  Two of them were on a Wednesday night while I was at orchestra.  But it was overcast so it didn't matter.  So frustrating.

But this time, it was just about perfect.  The only way it could be more perfect was if it started right at sundown.  I had to wait until about 11:00 but that wasn't too bad.

 At first it was hard to see any change.  I began to wonder if I had gotten the time wrong or something.

 But gradually there was a noticeable change.

 and the moon started to go dark.

It actually kind of looked like a regular half moon.

Except there was a difference.  Let me back up a little and show you a picture with a longer exposure.

The shadow is unmistakable.

From here on out it made more sense to use the longer exposure, but it also made it harder to stay in focus because of Earth's rotation.

 This is probably the best picture overall.  It wasn't full totality but it was pretty close and the redness was clear.

This is a longer exposure and you can see Spica the star starting to make a line.

This is the best one I have of totality.  I probably didn't need the exposure so high but I loved to see the redness so bright.

It was so fun to watch even though I had to stay up kind of late to see it.  I love astronomy!