Is anyone awake anough .... lunar eclipse?

[Dave2002]

The moon is red right now. However somewhat hard to photograph - I guess one has to be ready for this.

Others have succeeded, apparently - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34375868

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/what-time-supermoon-lunar-eclipse-10137042

[Nick Armstrong]

Yes stepped out twice - fortunately the moon has been visible throughout from just a few yards from the front gate. Around 2.15, normal colour moon (normal size too) but with a bite showing out of one edge. Then around 4am, the whole thing a dull smoky orange, with one side starting to show a lighter crescent... Still not large though. Perhaps when it rose, it was large on the horizon, didn't catch that. And yes, I lack the tripod which would have been essential to take a picture... My earlier post on Stormy Weather included someone's nice photo in London (Hampstead?)

[Bryn]

Woke spontaneously at 03:40 and was in a good position to watch by 04:00. Not much sign of redness, possibly due to the moon being so close that the Earth obscured too little of it. Worth getting up and out for, however.

[Nick Armstrong]

Here's NASA's 'flickr' album of photos by members of the public...

Not much sign of redness

Definitely a dusky orange here!

[Dave2002]

Woke spontaneously at 03:40 and was in a good position to watch by 04:00. Not much sign of redness, possibly due to the moon being so close that the Earth obscured too little of it. Worth getting up and out for, however.

Found my tripod, but it's missing a part, so useless!
It'll turn up eventually - I'm sure!

The moon was definitely red about an hour ago, and I pointed cameras at it to try to catch the colour - but without a functioning tripod and the correct camera settings pretty useless. From the back garden the view of the moon over one of the trees was, however, somewhat spectacular. At least I can say I saw it. I've not seen the red effect before.

The hyped up business about this being a supermoon doesn't make much difference to the appearance though.

The next two good lunar eclipses are in 2018 - January 31 and July 27/28. Get your cameras and tripods ready!

http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/list.html

[Dave2002]

Best I could do - hand held - lousy really, but shows an eclipse, and a change of colour. Black marks are actually the tree, which gets in the way!

I do have one or two more which show the colour better, but are very blurry - but taken before the total eclipse ended.

http://imgur.com/DemNgHh.jpg

http://imgur.com/k7xZESs.jpg - blurry, but shows whole disc, and reddish colour. Took some fiddling with post processing to see this at all in the image - oh for a tripod at the ready!

[mercia]

The hyped up business about this being a supermoon doesn't make much difference to the appearance though.

I've obviously misunderstood - I thought it was the fact that it was a supermoon that had caused the redness

[Dave2002]

I've obviously misunderstood - I thought it was the fact that it was a supermoon that had caused the redness

Well, yes and no - see http://earthsky.org/space/why-does-t...-lunar-eclipse

The point about the supermoon thing is that the moon is closer to us, so will seem bigger. However this is a different effect from seeing the moon low down, when sometimes it seems to be huge - possibly due to refraction, and possibly just our perception comparing the size of the moon with other terrestrial objects - maybe a bit of both.

Last night the moon was fairly high up, so it still looked circular, and really unless you'd measured it you wouldn't have noticed it being perceptually any larger.

Re the redness - well - maybe. The article linked explains that the redness is due to the moon being lit by sunlight going through the earth's atmosphere, and this filters out most of the frequencies leaving red. From the moon, there is a total solar eclipse, and if the earth and moon are closer this will last longer. It is possible also that the disposition of the earth+atmosphere may make the moon appear redder - but I don't think there is a direct link. For as long as the moon is experiencing a total solar eclipse, then the moon should appear red from earth. That's how i see it, anyway.

[mercia]

thanks for that. I had thought that lunar eclipses (if I've got the correct term) were not uncommon, whereas 'red' ones, were rare (next one 2033 ?). When we see a half-moon or crescent why is that not red ?

[Dave2002]

thanks for that. I had thought that lunar eclipses (if I've got the correct term) were not uncommon, whereas 'red' ones, were rare (next one 2033 ?). When we see a half-moon or crescent why is that not red ?

Because the moon is still lit from light from the sun. It's only when the earth gets in the way that the moon goes red. If there were no atmosphere on the earth, then the moon would be black/invisible, but some light from the sun leaks around the earth through the atmosphere, and because of filtering effects that goes red.

[teamsaint]

I thought it was pretty dramatic, and had a perfect view from the bedroom window.
Almost total eclipse around 3.15, with just a sliver of crescent showing. you could almost see the remaining lit portion change in shape.
tried a photo or two, but not worth posting. Because this is a fairly rural area, the absolute quiet and the very clear views of the stars made for really memorable event.

[Nick Armstrong]

The point about the supermoon thing is that the moon is closer to us, so will seem bigger. However this is a different effect from seeing the moon low down, when sometimes it seems to be huge - possibly due to refraction, and possibly just our perception comparing the size of the moon with other terrestrial objects - maybe a bit of both.

Last night the moon was fairly high up

Yes - I was expecting it to be low down too, given all the hoo-haa, to give that 'huge' effect added to everything else. I recall a couple of those in London, seeing the thing just above the rooftops, looking enormous.

But still dramatic last night, and you can see why it sent the ancients all of a jitter.

(next one 2033 ?)

There Dave - plenty of time to look for that bit of yer tripod!

That first photo of yours is pretty darn' good, considering...

[Dave2002]

Yes - I was expecting it to be low down too, given all the hoo-haa, to give that 'huge' effect added to everything else. I recall a couple of those in London, seeing the thing just above the rooftops, looking enormous.

But still dramatic last night, and you can see why it sent the ancients all of a jitter.

Where I used to live there was sometimes a view as one turned a corner of the moon LOOMING above the trees at the end of the road. It looked huge.

There Dave - plenty of time to look for that bit of yer tripod!

That first photo of yours is pretty darn' good, considering...

I think the next chance is in 2018 - for a red eclipse that is. I think you are right about 2033 for the next so called supermoon, but I think that's quite a bit of media hype. I'm not denying the facts, but simply that most people won't really see a major difference. The eclipse should still show red even if the moon doesn't appear quite so big.

Not sure I'll make it to 2033 - though hoping!

[Dave2002]

I thought it was pretty dramatic, and had a perfect view from the bedroom window.
Almost total eclipse around 3.15, with just a sliver of crescent showing. you could almost see the remaining lit portion change in shape.
tried a photo or two, but not worth posting. Because this is a fairly rural area, the absolute quiet and the very clear views of the stars made for really memorable event.

Did you try using a photo editing tool to see the moon in your photos? Some of mine came out appearing completely black until I tried pushing the exposure in a post processing tool. I wasn't trying to cheat, just to see if there was anything there at all. Once part of the moon became lit up again, it was easier, but the red effect wasn't so obvious either. Could be worth checking yours.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I kept awake until 1:50am, then nodded off and slept until 7:00, by which time a heavy mist was making it difficult to see the end of the street clearly, let alone any lunar interest. (This bit of the Pennines is lousy for anyone interested in astronomy - even if they remember to set their alarm clocks!)