Total Lunar Eclipse this coming Sunday night, Jan 20

1,397 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by labmansid
labmansid
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I posted this on the Aggieland board earlier, but thought it might come in handy here as well. The topic came up on the photography thread also, but I figured it deserved a separate topic.

Okay guys, this coming Sunday night, Jan. 20th, there will be a total lunar eclipse visible from North and South America. This means the Moon will be totally within the Earth's shadow for approx. an hour. During that time the Moon will be quite dark, with various shades of red, orange, copper, and possibly blue being exhibited. At present, the weather forecast for the B/CS area is favorable for clear skies. Fingers crossed!

All times are CST. The initial partial phase begins for us at 9:33PM. This phase will barely have any effect on the Moon visibly to start with. It will gradually darken, but will likely not be noticeable until closer to the total phase. Shortly before totality, there can be some dramatic lighting effects, so I wouldn't discount this phase completely.

Totality begins at 10:41PM, and lasts until 11:43PM. This is the most appealing phase, with a variety of colors and shading present. The Moon can become quite dark during this phase, and can be somewhat difficult to locate in the sky, especially if lots of distracting lights are in the vicinity. A viewing site away from city lights will be preferable.

After totality ends, another partial phase kicks in until 12:50AM on Monday morning.

Because of the timing of the event, the Moon will be high in the sky for us. Don't get a crick in your neck looking up!

For more detailed info on the upcoming eclipse, see here.

BadMoonRisin
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AG
Thanks for posting!
saw em off
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BadMoonRisin said:

Thanks for posting!
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bbattbq01
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double aught
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AG
Looks pretty cool from Dallas.
bigtruckguy3500
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If you haven't gone outside, you've got about another 25 minutes or so to see the full eclipse. We start moving out around 1140 or so.
labmansid
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A few shots from Sunday night. All were shot on a Canon 6D attached to a Celestron 8" SCT with a focal reducer giving f6.3. This reduces the focal length of the scope from 2000mm down to around 1300mm. The shots of the total phase were all taken at 800ISO and 1-5 second exposures.

Partial phase.



Partial phase. I overexposed the part still in sunlight to show color in the portion already in totality.



Barely in complete totality.



About to cover up a star.



Near mid-eclipse.



A longer exposure reveals a few dimmer stars surrounding the eclipsed moon.



Near the end of totality.



Totality over.



Just for grins, without expecting much, during totality I briefly turned the telescope to the Orion Nebula or M42. This one turned out best, a single shot of 25 seconds at 1600ISO and f6.3. I think I may have caught a faint satellite crossing in this one. Not magazine worthy, but I thought it was pretty cool.


Phat32
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AG
Bad ass
bigtruckguy3500
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That's pretty awesome
double aught
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AG
Thanks for sharing those. Well done.
Bregxit
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AG
There was apparently a meteor strike caught by cameras during the eclipse as well.

labmansid
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I saw that on Spaceweather.com. Hadn't seen that video, thanks for posting. I looked back through all my pictures but I must not have caught it. It turns out those kind of strikes happen pretty often actually.
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