Today, with a great deal of media fanfare, the moon experienced a total lunar eclipse that was visible across much of North and South America at a point in its orbit where it was relatively close to the earth (perigee). The media called this event a number of titles, but Supermoon Lunar Eclipse is representative. NASA took a slightly more balanced and scientific approach and has covered the event in a way that I find both refreshing and exciting. NASA's description of the celestial phenomenon that we witnessed this evening (if the weather cooperated for you) can be found here.
The weather was a little dodgy, but we were able to get the family out and about, and at 2243, the height of the total lunar eclipse when the moon was fully within the earth's umbra or shadow, I was able to image it with my cell phone camera. The collage above is a selection of the photos.
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| Images of the "Super" Moon Total Lunar Eclipse that I took this evening with my cell phone camera |
The weather was a little dodgy, but we were able to get the family out and about, and at 2243, the height of the total lunar eclipse when the moon was fully within the earth's umbra or shadow, I was able to image it with my cell phone camera. The collage above is a selection of the photos.
Once again, I'm forced to admit that the photos did not completely capture the grandiosity of the event that we were able to witness as the clouds parted for brief windows at just the right times. I'm told by the astronomers that follow these things that the coincidence of a full moon, full lunar eclipse, with the moon very close to its orbital perigee (hence the term supermoon because the size of the moon is a few percentage points larger than usual) is a relatively rare event. The last time this coincidence of events occurred was in 1982 and the next time it will happen again will be in 2033.
It's difficult to imagine that the next time we'll be able to see this that my oldest child will be 29 years old, and my youngest will be 26. I'll be pushing 60.
While hopefully not a once in a generation event as is being touted in the press, I find the ability to experience this a remarkable gift. I still remember when my dad took me out to view Halley's Comet in 1986 when I was 12 years old. The next opportunity to view that will be in 2061, and if I make it, I'll be 87 years old.
While this lunar event is not as rare as Halley's, it serves to remind me of my smallness in the vastness of the universe. Hope to see you again in 2033.
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