"Super" Moon Full Lunar Eclipse 2015

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.

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.

Being Prepared to be Amazed

Today, I was certain that I would not have anything interesting to write about, so I took what I thought at the time were some relatively mundane photos of some buildings and the sail of a submarine in a field that I thought I might squeeze into a few column inches or so.  Yes, you read that right, a submarine (or at least the conning tower) of a submarine in a field.  Here's the panorama that Google Auto Awesome stitched together for me out of that series of photographs.

Sail from SS 285, USS Balao

It strikes me that earlier this morning, I had been prepared to call this type of experience mundane.  I did get to see, and could have touched it if I wanted, the conning tower of the USS Balao, the lead ship in the Balao class diesel electric submarines that conducted 10 war patrols in the Pacific and sank a number of Japanese ships.  The ship was recommissioned in the early 1950's and saw further service until she was decommissioned and sunk as a target in 1963.  She even played a prominent role as the "pink submarine" in the 1959 movie "Operation Petticoat" starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis.  She also deployed to the western Atlantic during the Cuban Missile crisis.

As if coming across this visible and very storied bit of naval lore was not enough for today, I was able to see Nancy Pelosi, Minority leader of the United States Senate give a speech on the steps of the Senate side of the Capitol Building this afternoon with a number of her fellow Senators and Congressmen in a show of support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action concerning the nuclear capabilities and limitations on those capabilities of Iran.  Just eight minutes ago, the AP reported that Senate Democrats had secured enough votes to block a filibuster tomorrow when Congress takes up debate surrounding a resolution of disapproval.  It is likely that the resolution of disapproval will pass in the House of Representatives but may not pass in the Senate.  If the resolution for disapproval passes in the Senate, President Obama will veto the resolution, and as things stand there are not enough votes in the Senate to override the veto meaning that the agreement will stand.

Here is what the announcement by Senator Pelosi looked like from the vantage point on my walk this evening.

Senator Pelosi and colleagues speaking on the steps of the Capitol during my walk this afternoon.

It's worth noting that I did not specifically time my walk to correspond with any of this political speechifying, and that my seeing this announcement was strictly coincidental to my daily practice.  It's also worth noting that only a street's width of air separated me from this relatively large group of Senators.  There was really no crowd to speak of, and I could come and go as I wished.  There were a few folks dressed like these guys floating around the area.

Capitol Policemen, one armed with an M-4 hanging around during Nacy Pelosi's presser.

The whole experience made the process feel very accessible, and if anyone is interested in seeing the federal government in action, there are precious few barriers to being a passive (or active) participant in that process from what I've observed.

What started out as an incorrectly assumed mundane day turned out to be a pretty amazing event for my when it was all wrapped up.  It serves as a lesson to me to maintain my sense of wonder and an openness to being amazed at what life will unfold around me if I am both patient enough and open enough to let it.