Moonshadow

Two weeks ago I told you about the peak of the Perseids meteor shower. This time, another celestial body takes center stage. Spurred on by Philip Torrone’s post, I set my alarm for 1:45AM with the intention of capturing the entire lunar eclipse cycle. When I awoke at 4:10AM, I realized I’d accidentally set the alarm for 1:45PM instead, but I was still able to catch the eclipse at near-peak intensity.

The dark red moon hanging low in the western sky was truly a wonder to behold, although there was no time to set up the tripod and camera I’d staged at the back door. When I returned indoors, I headed for Google to look for lunar webcams, and I hit paydirt with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation site’s views from Sydney. Below, you’ll find a series of archived snapshots, chronologically organized as the moon re-entered its partial eclipse phase.

For more information, see this page from NASA’s eclipse site. Mr. Eclipse’s ‘Lunar Eclipses for Beginners‘ tutorial is another good resource and includes an impressive set of photos from a January 2000 total eclipse.

How were the eclipse views from your particular vantage point?

p.s…there’s a chance you’ll be able to see another meteor shower this upcoming Saturday morning: the Aurigids.