Tag Archives: Lunar Eclipse

•

Rozanne Rapozo is an excellent photographer and I feel privileged to be able to share her work with you. Around 3 a.m. Tuesday, March 3, a total lunar eclipse was seen from the Mendonoma coast.

A lunar eclipse occurs when a full Moon moves into the Earth's shadow and the Moon turns a deep reddish-orange or “blood red". This happens because Earth's atmosphere filters out all the blue light and refracts the longer red wavelengths into the shadow. This effectively projects all the world's sunrises and sunsets onto the Moon, giving us a blood red Moon.

What a sight!

Thanks to Rozanne for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

Today is breezy and sunny!

•

Sunday night, May 15th, brought a celestial phenomenon, a total lunar eclipse. The Moon glowed red and orange, hence it’s often referred to as Blood Moon. Barry and Kathryn Weiss went to a suitable spot on The Sea Ranch to witness and photograph the event. Barry wrote, “So there we were, at the end of Piper’s Reach waiting for sunset. Friends driving by us would stop and ask if we were okay or did we need any help. ‘No, just waiting for sunset.’ ‘Waiting for the eclipse.’ They’d respond, ‘Oh,’ and then drive off. So there we were, freezing our…let’s say feet…off and then we saw it. When I examined my photos I saw that I might have captured the planet Jupiter in it.”

I sent Barry’s photo to sky watcher Mel Smith. Mel believes Barry photographed a star, not the planet Jupiter. Mel said if the eclipse happened during the Zodiac sign of Scorpio, which it did, then Barry photographed Antares. Mel said, “I’ve never seen a star next to an eclipsing Moon before.” There appears to be another faint star on the right side of the Moon.

Diane Hichwa also drove to view the eclipse. As the eclipse continued, she drove past a Raccoon that was huddled in a culvert.

Diane wondered if the Raccoon was scared by the event. When the eclipse was over, the Moon returned to its normal color and the excitement was over.

Thanks to Barry and Diane for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It's very warm here today, after a warm day yesterday. Hot up on the ridge! Bring back our fog!

•

January 31st brought us a celestial event to remember. Skies were completely clear on the Mendonoma coast. Photographer Paula Power took photos of the event. Here is the Blood Moon, the full moon in a lunar eclipse.

It was amazing to see the stars so vibrant during the eclipse. Paula captured some of that night-time magic.

Paula then photographed the moon as the eclipse was finishing.

It was quite an experience to witness this event. Fun fact: the second full moon in a month is called a Blue Moon. That doesn't occur too often, hence the expression, "Once in a blue moon."

I thank Paula for allowing me to share her photos with you here.