The last Blood Moon lunar eclipse until 2025 is underway! See the first photos here.

[Admin]

The last lunar eclipse of 2022 has begun! It is already thrilling skywatchers around the world and we have some of the first Blood Moon photos here.

The last Blood Moon lunar eclipse until 2025 is underway! See the first photos here. : Read more

 

[rod]

I was able to enjoy some of this total lunar eclipse this morning, lovely sight.

Sunrise 0640/0641 EST. Observed 0330 EST-0540 EST, 0830-1040 UT. Partial eclipse begins 0909 UT/0409 EST. Total eclipse begins 1016 UT/0516 EST. Mid-eclipse begins 1059 UT/0559 EST. Total eclipse ends 1142 UT/0642 EST (Sky & Telescope). I used 10x50 binoculars and my 90-mm refractor telescope at 31x (TeleVue 32-mm plossl). By 0412 EST, a chunk of the Moon was bit off and obvious Copernicus crater in the curved shadow of Earth 0430 EST and Tycho crater later near 0434 EST. Sky & Telescope on page 39 for November issue showed 0929 UT for Copernicus and 0933 UT for Tycho crater entering the shadow. By 0516 EST, the total lunar eclipse is taking place. Lovely sky with Mars bright and Uranus near 2-degrees from the Moon easy to see in 10x50 binocular view with Moon in eclipse. The Pleiades were lovely to see as well as Canis Major and Orion. The colors were distinct orange hue and Tycho crater distinct orange-reddish hue area. HIP13069, HIP13005, and HIP13046 formed an easy to see 3-star asterism near the Moon about 37 arcminute or less from lunar limb (Stellarium). These were 7th-8th magnitude stars, fainter stars visible too. 0540 EST, the Moon dipped below a tree line, so I came back inside. Clear skies with temperature 8C, north winds 13 knots. Some thin, high cirrus that did not cause viewing problems. Earlier near 0345 EST and farther out near the woods, I could hear coyote yips in a group as they walked through the woods, very distinct. I packed it up and moved to another, safer location.

When it comes to pictures of this lunar eclipse, I think my telescope views were better Nothing quite like the real thing outdoors on a very clear early morning.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

It was nice and clear here at 5am when I went out to look at the lunar eclipse. I was surprised to see the stars so bright, because it has been hazy here by the Chesapeake Bay for a while. I could easily spot the Pleiades with my naked eyes (well with my regular glasses, anyway), but was not pleased to notice that I can no longer pick out individual stars that way, like I could when my eyes were much younger.

Anyway, my wife and I enjoyed the elimination of the last directly lighted sliver of the Moon and then watched it turn deeper red until the Sun started brightening the sky about 6 am, and the Moon sank into the tree line.

Not quite as awesome as watching that progression from an island in Lake Superior with no ambient light around and the period of totality occurring with the Moon at local midnight, as I saw it decades ago. But, still worth rising early this morning.

 

[Helio]

https://imgur.com/OU4p2Ky

View: https://imgur.com/OU4p2Ky


I'm still getting past this round of Covid, so I didn't make any special effort. I simply leaned the lens on the balcony column and bumped the ISO enough to avoid excessive blur. [No color processing except what the camera does by default for jpgs.]

 

[rod]

https://imgur.com/OU4p2Ky

View: https://imgur.com/OU4p2Ky


I'm still getting past this round of Covid, so I didn't make any special effort. I simply leaned the lens on the balcony column and bumped the ISO enough to avoid excessive blur. [No color processing except what the camera does by default for jpgs.]

Very good Helio, nice picture.

 

[Helio]

Thanks Rod.

 

[rod]

Helio, I studied your picture and could see the same three star asterism I mentioned in my post#2, "HIP13069, HIP13005, and HIP13046 formed an easy to see 3-star asterism near the Moon about 37 arcminute or less from lunar limb (Stellarium). These were 7th-8th magnitude stars, fainter stars visible too. "

The three stars shaped like an isosceles acute triangle. Your picture is terrestrial upright view so the three are lower left or near 7:00 position of the Moon. In my refractor telescope view at 31x with true field about 1.5-degrees across, mirror reverse view so on the right side. Your picture confirms you and I were looking at the same total lunar eclipse event taking place, we were not located in different universes seeing different events

I was in MD along the Patuxent River farms and rural region when observing, so yes, some coyotes came by for a visit too

 

[Helio]

Yep. I also used Stellarium to verify which one was Uranus. When I took the picture I rotated the angle from level in order to get a solid hold on the camera, so what I posted isn't quite what was observable, though I assumed few would care.