The alarm clock awoke me 15 minutes earlier than usual this morning: 5:30 a.m. I had nudged it back a few clicks last night to ensure I had time to take in a rare celestial event; a lunar eclipse. But not just any lunar eclipse; a super moon, blue moon, blood moon and eclipse of the moon.
Frequent perusal of weather forecast websites yesterday told me not to get my hopes up however for fair weather this morning. In any casino I'd consider myself lucky to score seven consecutive identical icons; I'd at least win some money. But in this case a cloud with rain drops forecast for the next seven days is not the image one wants to see on the weather website on the eve of a rare eclipse.
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| The faint horizontal shadow at the bottom is an electrical power line that got in the way of my camera's frame. |
I had set my trusty dSLR the night before to pre-arranged settings I researched some time ago. It took awhile to find them hidden away in my cellphone notes. Unfortunately I neglected to factor in the fact that there would be NO illumination being reflected in the camera's light sensor under full eclipse, which is the timeframe during which I first viewed this event. Needless to say my first four frames were completely black. Also fortunately I quickly regained my senses and realized what a cool spectacle I was seeing and left the camera alone to simply experience the moment.
It was actually a bit creepy to see a FULL moon hanging in the sky, dark, as if someone or something had extinguished it. Can you imagine being a hunter in some long ago place and time, having planned a night hunt, knowing in advance when the moon would be full, only to have it inexplicably curtained from view, like the final act in a play? Furthermore would you now be exposing yourself to unexpected darkness and danger, perhaps now the subject of some unseen predator in the forest whose eyes were more accustomed to night vision than your own. That could infuse a bit of panic in anyone, bold hunter or not.
Firmly back in the present, as I first stood on my deck this morning after exiting the warmth of the house it was difficult to locate the moon as there was some light cloud. Once located I watched the black orb floating in the western sky for a few minutes until a faint orange glow began to appear at the lower left portion. It gradually grew in brilliance to fulfill the "blood" portion of its name; then more minutes later the familiar whiteness of our real moon reappeared, again at the lower left corner spreading slowly across the face. Only then, now fully reassured that full restoration of illumination was underway could I re-enter my house and prepare for another day.
It was actually a bit creepy to see a FULL moon hanging in the sky, dark, as if someone or something had extinguished it. Can you imagine being a hunter in some long ago place and time, having planned a night hunt, knowing in advance when the moon would be full, only to have it inexplicably curtained from view, like the final act in a play? Furthermore would you now be exposing yourself to unexpected darkness and danger, perhaps now the subject of some unseen predator in the forest whose eyes were more accustomed to night vision than your own. That could infuse a bit of panic in anyone, bold hunter or not.
Firmly back in the present, as I first stood on my deck this morning after exiting the warmth of the house it was difficult to locate the moon as there was some light cloud. Once located I watched the black orb floating in the western sky for a few minutes until a faint orange glow began to appear at the lower left portion. It gradually grew in brilliance to fulfill the "blood" portion of its name; then more minutes later the familiar whiteness of our real moon reappeared, again at the lower left corner spreading slowly across the face. Only then, now fully reassured that full restoration of illumination was underway could I re-enter my house and prepare for another day.
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