Photographs of Lunar Eclipse

An eclipse of the Moon is a celestial event of great majesty and beauty. Among early civilizations, the eclipse was feared as an ominous sign of disaster, death, war and famine. Today, we recognize the eclipse as a simple consequence of the Moon's orbital motion around Earth.
Eclipses of the Moon offer us the chance to enjoy a lovely naked eye spectacle in the heavens as well as a wonderful opportunity to teach our children about the beauty and wonder of Nature. It also affords us a the chance to photograph the event as a permanent momento of the experience.

Phases of the Moon (Telephoto Technique)

Phases of the Moon
Photo ©1998 by Fred Espenak

We have all noticed that the Moon shows a different phase each night. It takes about 29.5 days for the Moon to cycle through all of its phases. Then it begins again! Did you know that an eclipse of the Moon can only occur when the Moon is in its Full phase?
A series of photographs were taken on different days to capture the Moon's phases. A 4" AstroPhysics refractor (105EDT) was used at f/12, Ektachrome 100. The individual images were then scanned into a Macintosh and the final composition was arranged with Adobe Photoshop.
AstroPhysics 105EDT, f/12, Ektachrome 100

Portrait of Totality

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 20-21 (Dunkirk, Maryland)
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak
The continental U.S.A.'s most recent total lunar eclipse occurred on 2000 Jan 20-21. Many people managed to catch a glimpse of the event despite frigid temperatures and snow storms. During the total phase, the Moon's brighness dropped a thousand fold and took on a copper-orange color. This odd appearance is due to the fact that Earth's atmosphere filters out all the blue and green light so that only orange and red sunlight reaches the Moon.
AstroPhysics 130EDF refractor, f/12, Kodak Royal Gold 400

Lunar Eclipse Animation

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2000 Jan 20-21 (Dunkirk, Maryland)
Photo ©2000 by Fred Espenak

The Moon was photographed every five minutes during the total lunar eclipse of 2000 Jan 20-21. Adobe ImageReady was used to combine the images into a time lapse movie of the eclipse. Note the changes in the Moon's color during totality. This is due to light variations in Earth's umbral shadow.
AstroPhysics 130EDF refractor, f/12, Kodak Royal Gold 100 and 400

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