Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Lunar Eclipse, Melbourne, June 16 2011


What luck! During my annual trip back home to Melbourne, Australia, we were blessed with a total lunar eclipse! Dad and I got up early, about 4:30am, to watch the proceedings. By the time, the Moon was already about 50% eclipsed, and it really didn't take long to get to totality. The image above is probably the best shot I took, for a series of about 200 or so. The image below was taken about 15 minutes prior to totality. Some high level clouds rolled in and started to obscure our view, plus I was shooting with a dewed zoom lens to was working against the odds a little at the time this specific shot was taken. It was very dark so the image above doesn't really reflect how dark it actually looked in the Western sky. It was great fun to be able to see this, though!


10 comments:

LoneStar Skywatcher said...

Great Pictures Phil...
Omega Centauri and a Lunar Eclipse from down under. Glad you had Clear Skies!

Dan

Phil said...

Thanks, Dan! Nice to have some astro fun while on holiday.

Polaris B said...

Excellent eclipse shots! I envy you the experience, having been clouded out of the last several. Glad you could share this one. Val

Bryan said...

This is awesome Phil.I've never seen a beeter lunar photo.;)

Phil said...

Thanks guys!!

JuiceBoxLoveX said...

Wow! That's amazing !
I have photos from this lunar eclipse as well . Unfortunately, I din't have a tri-pod at the time but I was still able to get some good shots, and during one point something had past the moon as I snapped the photo.

It was neat.

I'm really really enjoying reading you entries because I myself love stars and moons and the unknown of space ! :)

Look forward to reading more!
take care, may good luck come yoir way!

Phil said...

Glad you got to see it too, JuiceBox. Keep looking up!

Anonymous said...

Hi! Just wondering where in Melbourne is good for lunar viewing? Thanks!

Phil said...

Anonymous - luckily the moon is so bright that you don't really need to go anywhere special. I observe and image the moon for my home in suburban Austin, Texas. When I used to live in Melbourne, I did the same from my yard in the SE suburbs. You can also observe most of the planets without issue from large cities. Anyway, no super dark skies needed fot the moon.

If you want to observe other deep sky objects through a telescope, then dark skies ARE better. The Royal Astronomical Society of Melbourne has a dark sky site up near the airport (Tulla), but you can get very good observing just a short drive out of Melbourne (east or West). When I go back home I know take a short trip up to the Dandenong Randges for good viewing.

Cheers,
Phil

Phil said...

Anonymous - luckily the moon is so bright that you don't really need to go anywhere special. I observe and image the moon for my home in suburban Austin, Texas. When I used to live in Melbourne, I did the same from my yard in the SE suburbs. You can also observe most of the planets without issue from large cities. Anyway, no super dark skies needed fot the moon.

If you want to observe other deep sky objects through a telescope, then dark skies ARE better. The Royal Astronomical Society of Melbourne has a dark sky site up near the airport (Tulla), but you can get very good observing just a short drive out of Melbourne (east or West). When I go back home I know take a short trip up to the Dandenong Randges for good viewing.

Cheers,
Phil