Doug Kerr
Well-known member
A total lunar eclipse occurred early in the morning of 2010.12.21 (US eastern time), visible from all of the 48 states. Here in North Texas, we were blessed with almost clear skies and warm weather.
Much was made in the press that this was the first time in over 300 years and only the second time in 2000 years that a total lunar eclipse fell "on the same day" as the winter solstice; however, I am not aware of any actual astronomical, photometric, geometric, or other technical significance of this calendar coincidence.
Here are two frames from our coverage; I will put up some more as soon as they are edited. These are at full camera resolution.
In this frame, the moon's disk is about 50% into the umbra (the Earth's nominally-complete shadow):
Douglas A. Kerr: Total lunar eclipse, well into the umbra
Here, we are almost at totality, where the entire moon is in the umbra:
Douglas A. Kerr: Total lunar eclipse, almost at totality
The reddish illumination of most of the moon's disk is the result of light scattered through the Earth's atmosphere, thus intruding into the full shadowing.
Our setup involved a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens with a Canon EF 2X focal length converter, operated at 400mm, on a Canon EOS 40D body. (I would have liked a greater focal length, but did not have such available.)
The camera was mounted on our Manfrotto 410 three-axis head on our favorite Sunset aluminum tripod. The camera was oriented opposite to the normal mounting to facilitate attainment of the necessary high elevation angles (the moon was near the zenith during much of the event).
We used our new LCD4Video 7" on camera monitor, which was wonderful for this work. It was of course at a far more convenient orientation than either the optical finder or the back monitor screen of the 40D.
We in fact used Live View, in in the "Exposure Simulation" mode. There, what we see on the monitor generally reflects the impact on the image of the selected photographic exposure, which helped me to set an appropriate exposure. We also used automatic exposure bracketing, with ±2/3 stop range. We used mirror lockup and 2-second self timer delay.
Interestingly, on the 40D, with mirror lockup and self-timer in effect, the automatic exposure bracketing would only happen if we fired from Live View mode! I need to do some checking of this today after I recover from the event.
Overall, it was a really nice experience.
Best regards,
Doug
Much was made in the press that this was the first time in over 300 years and only the second time in 2000 years that a total lunar eclipse fell "on the same day" as the winter solstice; however, I am not aware of any actual astronomical, photometric, geometric, or other technical significance of this calendar coincidence.
Here are two frames from our coverage; I will put up some more as soon as they are edited. These are at full camera resolution.
In this frame, the moon's disk is about 50% into the umbra (the Earth's nominally-complete shadow):
Douglas A. Kerr: Total lunar eclipse, well into the umbra
Here, we are almost at totality, where the entire moon is in the umbra:
Douglas A. Kerr: Total lunar eclipse, almost at totality
The reddish illumination of most of the moon's disk is the result of light scattered through the Earth's atmosphere, thus intruding into the full shadowing.
Our setup involved a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens with a Canon EF 2X focal length converter, operated at 400mm, on a Canon EOS 40D body. (I would have liked a greater focal length, but did not have such available.)
The camera was mounted on our Manfrotto 410 three-axis head on our favorite Sunset aluminum tripod. The camera was oriented opposite to the normal mounting to facilitate attainment of the necessary high elevation angles (the moon was near the zenith during much of the event).
We used our new LCD4Video 7" on camera monitor, which was wonderful for this work. It was of course at a far more convenient orientation than either the optical finder or the back monitor screen of the 40D.
We in fact used Live View, in in the "Exposure Simulation" mode. There, what we see on the monitor generally reflects the impact on the image of the selected photographic exposure, which helped me to set an appropriate exposure. We also used automatic exposure bracketing, with ±2/3 stop range. We used mirror lockup and 2-second self timer delay.
Interestingly, on the 40D, with mirror lockup and self-timer in effect, the automatic exposure bracketing would only happen if we fired from Live View mode! I need to do some checking of this today after I recover from the event.
Overall, it was a really nice experience.
Best regards,
Doug