2010-12-21

Solstice Eclipse

What an event last night was! The first lunar eclipse on the solstice in 372 years! In spite of the cold (-25 C wind chill) I dashed out and took some photos. This is from my digital and amazingly enough, hand held! My friends film camera with the big telephoto lens was on the tripod. I really hope I did as well with the film, but, I won't know for a few days.


Those were the best three shots. I even managed to get a few stars with the last one, so if you click to enlarge, the white spots aren't dust on your screen ;) I didn't stay to see the other side, I was frozen and tired. I also didn't manage to see any shooting stars. I imagine if I had been able to get out to the country where it is darker, I might have seen a few. Oh well, there will be more meteor showers in warmer temperatures long before we have another eclipse like this :)

Happy Solstice all!
at

16 comments:

  1. Leah J. Utas21/12/10 12:39

    Oh, magnificent. Excellent pic, Reb.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BSOB21/12/10 14:18

    What an Awesome picture!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Reb21/12/10 15:02

    Thanks Leah.

    Thanks Ben.

    ReplyDelete
  4. the Bag Lady21/12/10 17:28

    EXCELLENT!! I managed to take a bunch of pictures, too.
    They are all blank.
    Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Reb21/12/10 17:38

    Thanks Sis! At least you saw it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. messymimi21/12/10 19:05

    Amazing, isn't it? Left the kids, who had a cheap telescope out there, asking tons of questions about space.

    ReplyDelete
  7. solarity21/12/10 19:13

    Jealous. It rained all night.

    Mary Anne in Kentucky

    ReplyDelete
  8. Reb21/12/10 19:35

    messymimi, good for the kids. Telescopes are great things.

    Mary Anne, I was worried it might be cloudy, I am glad it wasn't even though it was cold.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hilary21/12/10 20:11

    Fantastic, Reb! You did much better than I. I can't wait to see the film result. Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Reb22/12/10 11:17

    Hilary, thanks. I can't imagine I did better than you though ;)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hilary23/12/10 09:11

    It was the full eclipse that had me stymied. Mine was so grainy and noisy. Yours looks so smooth and sharp. PLUS starlight... so cool. I borrowed your progressive image idea. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Reb23/12/10 10:20

    Hilary, I usually have the grainy/noisy problem too, I think I was @ 100 ISO this time. I have to admit though the progressive idea wasn't mine, so feel free to borrow it ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous23/12/10 20:33

    Reb, I'm SO glad you shared this!
    I stayed in bed because every night shot I have taken of the moon comes out blurry and/or grainy (usually "and"). This is such a cool photograph. How much can it be enlarged and still keep good quality?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Reb23/12/10 20:51

    Thanks Karen. I am glad you liked it. It can't be enlarged much beyond what the screen will show you here, the middle shot is really the only great one. I have taken the film in and hopefully with the tripod and the larger lens I will have some better photos. I won't be picking up though until mid next week though - I avoid shopping on boxing day! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Joanna Jenkins23/12/10 22:12

    Stopping by from Hilary's to seer your eclipse photos. They're gorgeous! Thanks-- it was totally blocked with clouds in rainy Los Angeles.
    Cheers, jj

    ReplyDelete
  16. Reb24/12/10 01:09

    Joanna, thanks for stopping by and your kind comments.

    ReplyDelete