August 28, 2007
Eclipse
We had a beautiful full moon last night when I went outside just after 10:30. We’ve had a little rain over the last week, so the warm, muggy nights have left us for a while. I was cool and comfortable in full-length, short-sleeved pajamas as I sat on the lanai waiting for the show to begin.
At around 10:45 I could see a flattening effect to the left margin of the moon’s shape. I was already starting to get a “crick” in my neck, so I brought a pillow outside and tried lying down on the lanai and looking straight up. The eaves got in the way, though, so I went back to sitting on the rocker, then on the steps and finally on the ice chest I brought groceries home in yeterday. None of those positions helped my neck.
At 10:58 the left edge of the moon had a bit missing, like a cookie just slightly nibbled. The clouds, which had been blowing by in ragged whisps, began to accumulate in earnest. My neighbors Roy and Dot came out to watch from their driveway across the fence. We “talked story” for a bit as we watched the eclipse progress. Their home is the gathering spot for all of their family, and their son had been over earlier in the day doing a power supply repair on his boat, so we talked about fishing and grown kids who store big things like boats at their parents’ homes.
The clouds were in the way for a while, but opened up somewhat at about 11:20. The moon had taken on a kidney-bean shape by then. I coninuted to snap pictures regularly over the next two hours. I could see the moon quite well, but the eclipse had diminished the light output enough that my pictures show next to nothing. By around two o’clock the moon was approaching full again, but was red-tinged. The reddish quality of the light and the dense clouds made it impossible for me to capture with my camera what my eyes could clearly see. I’m strictly an amateur at picture-taking, but last night I found myself wishing for one of those hundred-pound cameras with lots of fancy lenses and filters. I can only tell you that the heavens put on a phenomenal show last night over Hawaii, and that I wish I possessed the skill and equipment to have captured it for you.
Edit: I haven’t found any still photos online, but The Honolulu Advertiser has posted a video news clip that includes some shots of the eclipse.
Lunar eclipse photos on Flikr These are all from the eclipse last night and this morning and are much, much better than mine, Enjoy! Mahalo to Allysther.
[tags]eclipse, Hawaii, photos[/tags]
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August 28th, 2007 at 11:48 am, Lee Says:
Sounds beautiful skeet! Thanks for sharing the photos and the imagery!
August 28th, 2007 at 12:15 pm, ONwebCHECK Says:
So many bloggers write about that but without photos. Ok it seams to be always the same but always it have it´s magic.
August 28th, 2007 at 12:50 pm, skeet Says:
It was really lovely, Lee. Wish I could have gotten some good photos to share, though!
August 28th, 2007 at 12:51 pm, skeet Says:
I’ve just added a link to a news clip about the eclipse, OnWebCheck. It includes a little video that is much prettier than my photos.
August 28th, 2007 at 7:19 pm, allysther Says:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&w=all&q=lunar+eclipse+08282007&m=text
Flickr to the rescue!
August 28th, 2007 at 9:10 pm, skeet Says:
Ah, Ms. Allysther! Mahalo, ma’am!
August 29th, 2007 at 3:50 am, Leigh Says:
I wish we could have seen it here, but we had cloud cover.
August 29th, 2007 at 7:38 pm, Whim Says:
It was too foggy to see it here.
August 30th, 2007 at 3:20 am, Dirk Star Says:
Nice pictures. It was very clear and cloudless in Ohio that night so I got some fairly good pictures too.
It was Micah’s first eclipse…
August 31st, 2007 at 3:19 am, Ishaan Gulrajani Says:
Amazing pictures! The skies are always too cloudy over here to take shots like that…
also: nice blog!
-ishaan gulrajani
August 31st, 2007 at 10:06 am, skeet Says:
You missed a great show, Whim. Word was that Hawaii would have the best view of the eclipse, but I’ve seen beautiful pictures from California.
August 31st, 2007 at 10:08 am, skeet Says:
Make sure you put the pictures in his baby book, Dirk! Wish I could have gotten better pictures because what I saw was amazing, but my camera & skills aren’t up to capturing it so well. Check out the California photos on the flikr link, though - beautiful!
August 31st, 2007 at 10:10 am, skeet Says:
Mahalo, Ishaan! Wish I’d had better pictures to share.
I removed your links from your comment, but you’re welcome to link to any non-commercial blog once you have some content.