Did you catch any of the lunar eclipse?
I did. It was eerie, just as they said it would be. The earth's shadow passed over the moon's surface, bathing the entire orb in a reddish-orange glow. It was a little clumsy peering at it through a thick filter so that I didn't go blind, but I got quite a good look at it.
I tried to take some photos of the event with my ancient digital camera, but they all came out pretty poor. Here's a Photoshop-enhanced version of a shot I took from our back deck around 4 o'clock:
Not much, eh? But just so that readers of this blog don't feel deprived, here is a high-powered computer simulation of what it actually looked like:
Awesome stuff. But I'm still feeling a bit tingly.
| Posted at 4:13 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (14)
Navel or Valencia?
Posted by Allan L. | August 28, 2007 7:38 AM
as the sky darkened more and more stars were visible. Very neat.
Posted by pril | August 28, 2007 7:52 AM
Jack wrote:
"It was a little clumsy peering at it through a thick filter so that I didn't go blind... ."
Reaching back into the history of my (1964) eighth grade science lessons, I thought the optical filter was only needed in the case of a solar eclipse (not a lunar one).
...talk amongst yourselves.
Posted by Oregbear | August 28, 2007 8:23 AM
I might be too old to use "awesome", but it's the first thing that came to mind.
Posted by David E Gilmore | August 28, 2007 9:06 AM
Dear Oregbear,
At first I was going to write and say Jack was just being funny about the thick filter and the eclipse, but then I realized you're just being funny, too. Nice use of the double-bag technique originally pioneered in grocery stores.
What puzzled me about the post is the last picture. I don't think that's the moon at all. I think it's an orange.
Posted by Bill McDonald | August 28, 2007 9:19 AM
The eclipse was all kinds of beautiful. I have a 4" refractor telescope and watched it for over an hour. The moon really is the most peaceful place on earth.
Posted by telecom | August 28, 2007 10:16 AM
The detail on the enhanced simulation is incredible. You can even see the moonspots. Hope they don't interfere with the power grid.
Posted by Alexander | August 28, 2007 11:35 AM
Twas a marvelous night for a moondance, under an opalescent orb.
Posted by genop | August 28, 2007 11:49 AM
That's not an orange. Its a "Tropicana Moon". I think Anita Bryant sang about it once. Maybe. I think.
Posted by BobM | August 28, 2007 12:04 PM
A subliminal promotion for OJ's book...
Sorry.
Posted by Alexander | August 28, 2007 12:15 PM
I slept through the middle part. The plot dragged and the action was slow.
Didn't some site somewhere have a 'live' feed, maybe with voice-over analysis and color commentary?
Astro logically, as much as the Pisces - Virgo polar dimension is denoted as 'church - state,' then the symbolism is an eclipse of 'church,' meaning the spirit or spirituality of people, and the showing or standing of 'state,' meaning the heirarchical and bosspower (also, sociopathy) which enslaves spirit. In other words, prayers to a higher power got blacked out, the only effective power is bodily force now, for the next six months (until the next eclipse).
HERE is one interpretation for it: “Cage Bush. Not Sydney”
Posted by Tenskwatawa | August 28, 2007 12:21 PM
I got a couple of photos of it that didn't turn out too bad - they're on my blog if you're interested.
http://www.metroknow.com
Posted by metroknow | August 28, 2007 4:39 PM
Valencia.
Posted by Jack Bog | August 28, 2007 5:55 PM
The picture on the front of the O today looks like a bruised peach.
Posted by Cynthia | August 29, 2007 10:50 AM