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Saluda : Cool faces and cool places.

Saluda

Cool faces and cool places.

Updated: Oct 25, 2007 9:45pm PST

Lunar Eclipse Feb. 08 : A lunar eclipse occurs at least two times a year, whenever some portion of the Earth's shadow falls upon the Moon. The Moon will always be full during a lunar eclipse; that is, from the perspective of the Sun, the Moon will be directly behind the Earth. In order to be eclipsed, the Moon must be near one of the two intersection points its orbit makes with the ecliptic, which are referred to as the Moon's ascending and descending nodes. The shadow of the Earth can be divided into two distinctive parts: the umbra and penumbra. Within the umbra, there is no direct solar radiation. However, as a result of the Sun's large angular size, solar illumination is only partially blocked in the outer portion of the Earth's shadow, which is given the name penumbra. When the Moon travels completely into the Earth's umbra, one observes a total lunar eclipse. Such was the case last night. It lasted 51 minutes but time going in and out amounted to over three hours of viewing time. The color and brightness of the Moon during an eclipse varies according to the amount of light refracted by the Earth's atmosphere and how much dust and cloud cover are there. Each lunar eclipse is a different shade from orange to purple. Unfortunately, there was a cloud cover over the Mississippi Gulf Coast last night so I missed the beginning and the end of the show. I was just glad that the skies cleared for the main event! A wonderful bonus were Saturn and the Star Regulus near enough to the moon to get them in two of my shots. Be sure and find them. If I had had a telescopic lens you could have seen Saturn's rings. I had a learning curve about how to photograph it. I had never used my new D300 in night photography. My D70 had a setting for it and I always used it. So when I tried, I royally messed it up. After trying for 20 minutes and losing good shots of it going under, I called my friend. He informed me that I had to set my camera on manual and my lens also on manual. I now had to decide what shutter speed and aperture setting to use, which changed during the eclipse as the light changed. I also had to manual focus the lens. This would not be a problem for some, but I don't see well, so I had to approximate when I had it in focus and not. You can see that I didn't always hit it. I still posted those photos because they were still sequential. There was no Post Processing except zooming in. I could have, but didn't think it appropriate. What I did do can be viewed in the first gallery in this category. There is a great story about a Lunar Eclipse that occurred during Christopher Columbus' trip to the New World. You WILL enjoy it, trust me. Go here and I mean it!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus#Fourth_voyage One more thing........Don't miss the total Solar Eclipse in August 2008!!! I will certainly be out there.

Lunar Eclipse Feb. 08

A lunar eclipse occurs at least two times a year, whenever some portion of the Earth's shadow falls upon the Moon. The Moon will always be full during a lunar eclipse; that is, from the perspective of the Sun, the Moon will be directly behind the Earth. In order to be eclipsed, the Moon must be near one of the two intersection points its ...

Updated: Feb 23, 2008 3:02pm PST

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