Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2013

[Apollo XX]

The most subtle of all the types of eclipses, ideal conditions are necessary to be able to see these events. Tonight was one of those nights. I got out there shortly after 7:00pm, nearly two hours into the roughly four hour event. The southern highlands of the moon were clearly immersed in a shadow, easily discernible through binoculars. At some points this was even evident by naked eye. I took photos of the moon every 5 minutes from 7:15pm to 8:30pm, while gazing at the spectacle through binos in between shots. All of the images were taken though a 4.5" reflector with a Kodak Z885 point and shoot.

Details:
All exposures - F2.8, ISO200, 1/1000 sec.
Mosaic assembled in GIMP



Mike M.

[AndyG]

Superb! You rock, Mike!

I was failing to see the penumbral eclipse naked eye, but now I know what to look for next time.

[NGC7000]

Beautiful sequence, Mike. Yeah, I was out there in the driveway, and I have to say, I didn't really see it. Glad you recorded it so well.

Tom

[Dark Helmet]

Great sequence. I stood outside the pizza joint here in Mansfield waiting for my pizza and could hardly tell. if at all, there was an eclipse. Really tough to see the shade differences.

Matt

[Apollo XX]

Thanks Guys! It definitely wasn't one of the most obvious or exciting celestial events we'll ever see, that's for sure. It was best observed through binos, and then when you knew right where to look you could see some slight darkening by naked eye. The most obvious area was in the SE, from about Tycho over towards the limb. It wasn't really that noticeable visually through the scope, maybe because it gathers so much more light?

Mike M.

[Bruce D]

I actually was checking out the moon several times during that time period and had no clue anything was going on!

[WCGucfa]

Excellent observation, Mike. I was coming home from CT (late meeting). I could see the
difference in the FM, and had my cameras, but knew you wouldn't let us down, judging from your past top notch
lunar work! Imagine how shaky my images would have been, shooting at 65mph!

BG