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Eclipse in progress


Eclipse in progress
Photo Information
Copyright: Wing Lee (wingle) Silver Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 38 W: 2 N: 79] (415)
Genre: Landscapes
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-08-28
Categories: Sky
Camera: Canon 1D MkII N
Exposure: f/8, 1/2 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-08-28 21:22
Viewed: 527
Points: 14
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
This photo was taken on 28th of August at 2:47 a.m. Pacific time. This is one of many more photos taken in a 3 hour period. Because of very low light, most photos have a lot of noise with high ISO and long exposures especially during full eclipse. Thanks for looking.
Note: Had to over expose highlights to capture portion of eclipse.

From Wikipedia:

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. However, since the orbital plane of the Moon is inclined by about 5° with respect to the orbital plane of the Earth (the ecliptic), most full moons occur when the Moon is either north or south of Earth's shadow. Thus 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.

The Moon does not completely disappear as it passes through the umbra because of the refraction of sunlight by the Earth's atmosphere into the shadow cone; if the Earth had no atmosphere, the Moon would be completely dark during an eclipse. The red colouring arises because sunlight reaching the Moon must pass through a long and dense layer of the Earth's atmosphere, where it is scattered. Shorter wavelengths are more likely to be scattered by the small particles, and so by the time the light has passed through the atmosphere, the longer wavelengths dominate. This resulting light we perceive as red. This is the same effect that causes sunsets and sunrises to turn the sky a reddish colour; an alternative way of considering the problem is to realise that, as viewed from the Moon, the Sun would appear to be setting (or rising) behind the Earth.

The amount of refracted light depends on the amount of dust or clouds in the atmosphere; this also controls how much light is scattered. In general, the dustier the atmosphere, the more that other wavelengths of light will be removed (compared to red light), leaving the resulting light a deeper red colour. This causes the resulting coppery-red hue of the Moon to vary from one eclipse to the next. Volcanoes are notable for expelling large quantities of dust into the atmosphere, and a large eruption shortly before an eclipse can have a large effect on the resulting colour.
Kathleen, LordPotty, claudine, JoshLewis has marked this note useful
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ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Jeruel: Hi Jeruelwingle 1 08-29 22:40
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Wing.
Awesome, it's funny looking at your side of the world up-side down, our eclipse came in from the bottom, yours comes in from the top.
Great clarity and detail, wonderful.

Kathleen

  • Great 
  • Jeruel (29)
  • [2007-08-28 23:53]
  • [+]

Wing, this is one of the rarest shots I usually see, since this event comes only once in a blue [this time it's red] moon!

Nice capture! What lens did you use here?

Hello Wing,
Yeah,it sure is interesting seeing it upside down ... even the craters are the other way up.
Great shot too by the way.
Cheers,Steve

  • Great 
  • sway Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 316 W: 88 N: 308] (1212)
  • [2007-08-29 0:52]

Great shot.

We got to have a total eclipse too. but our moon seems to be up the other way, or is it us that are upside down..

Love the colour and details

Hi Wing,
A beautiful shot of the mooon, I think it looks very sharp myself. I must get a longer lens!! :o) TFS
Donna:o)

This is a great and precious moment caught and the technique you used is perfect IMHO... This is not an easy shot to achieve and you did great. I feel like I am a “real” witness of this special moment. Congratulations again!
Claudine

Wow! It was a very beauitful moon, very nice capture! Thanks for sharing! Cheers Josh Lewis.

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