(Part of the) Lunar Eclipse

In the wee hours of this morning there was a total lunar eclipse, which was on the same day as the winter solstice (the day when the sun is the lowest in the northern skies, marking the beginning of winter).

According to the Washington Post, these events hadn't coincided in almost 2,000 years, and on the spur of the moment I decided to try to capture pictures of the eclipse.

I was ill-prepared as I hadn't realized this was going to happen and so I missed the most interesting pictures, when the Earth's shadow ate across the moon, finally leaving a dramatic orange lunar orb. The cold 20-degree weather didn't help either.

My early pictures were either overexposed or blurry because I made the mistake of thinking I should use a long exposure, when what I needed was to use a large aperture and a fast shutter speed.

Finally, about 4 a.m. I found that by using a 200 mm telephoto lens with a 2X extender, I got decent shots at an aperture of f/5.6 and a shutter speed of about 1/320 second, and I made the following video of the time-lapsed pictures as the moon emerged again from the shadow:

The next total eclipse isn't due until June 15, 2011. If the skies are clear I may try photographing it again.

Here are the dates according to NASA for eclipses in 2011:

• 2011 Jan 04: Partial Solar Eclipse
• 2011 Jun 01: Partial Solar Eclipse
• 2011 Jun 15: Total Lunar Eclipse
• 2011 Jul 01: Partial Solar Eclipse
• 2011 Nov 25: Partial Solar Eclipse
• 2011 Dec 10: Total Lunar Eclipse