2010 Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse

Once in a lifetime Photo Opportunity

On December 20-21, in the Northern Hemisphere, we were privy to an occurrence that has not happened since the year 1638. A total lunar eclipse fell on the 2010 Winter Solstice and was a historic event because it was only the second one to occur during the Common Era. I was afraid that the eclipse would not be visible from my area due to a weather system that had moved in with a layer of stratus clouds containing heavy moisture. Snow was starting to fall on the higher mountains. However around 9:00pst the clouds had thinned enough for the full moon to shine brightly through in the overhead sky. Since the eclipse was scheduled to begin at 9:27pst, I scrambled to get my camera equipment set up.

With the lunar eclipse, I used a long telephoto lens, a Nikon 500mm 4.0 to bring the moon up big and close. The six pound lens was attached to my Nikon D90, which was then tightly secured to the pistol grip head on my Bogan tripod. The piston grip allows me to turn the camera by just squeezing the grip handle, and I can also move from horizontal to vertical with just a squeeze of the grip.

At this time of night, the moon was just about straight up in the sky. Positioning the moon in the center of the 500mm lens required extending the tripod to its full height, then pulling the camera and lens back to a near vertical position. This is where the trust comes in with my equipment because if the tripod clamp had released, my night would have turned into a nightmare.

Once the camera, lens and tripod was set up, I metered the moon in spot metering on manual setting at f4.6, which indicated a 1/500 second shutter speed. A cable release was used to trigger the shutter and prevent camera shake. Around 9:30pm the clouds started to break just as the moon was beginning to eclipse. As the moon slowly passed through the Earth's shadow, I continued to take meter readings, dropping the shutter speed as the moon grew dim. My last shutter speed when the moon went in total eclipse was 2.5 seconds.

Most often during a Lunar Eclipse when the moon is lower in the sky and dust particles are present in the atmosphere the moon will take on an orange/red color. The color of the moon is affected by the geographic location of the observer, local weather and atmospheric conditions. Colors can vary during the eclipse from dark pastels, to violet, to dark apricot and or red.

Red moon during the August 28, 2007 lunar eclipse, 02:45,
Walker Lake, Nevada

When the moon is in the darkest area of Earth's shadow, it will continue to give off a faint light which comes from the Sun's light being bent as it enters the atmosphere.

The Winter Eclipse lasted for around 6 hours, until 03:06pst and all during the event as if on cue the sky remained clear and without any wind.

The 2010 eclipse fell on the descending node of the moon's orbit. Lunar eclipses are always paired with a solar eclipse 2 weeks before or after at the new moon in the opposite node. There will be a partial solar eclipse at the ascending node on January 4, 2011, visible from Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. A word of caution when viewing or photographing a solar eclipse, do not look at the sun even when it goes dark. And never look at the sun through the camera viewfinder. The sun light is so strong that even a very small exposure can cause permanent eye damage.

For More Information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2010_lunar_eclipse

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

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Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

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