A friend mentioned last night that we would have a lunar eclipse around 5:27 this a.m.
For some odd reason, my dog woke me up wanting to go out at 5:15, so out we go and I remembered the eclipse. I looked toward the southwest and saw what had been an almost full moon last nite, beginning to get a hazy shadow on the dome, crown, cap, crest, top half, whatever. I took the dog back in and brought out the telescope my daughters gave me for Christmas. I'm not an astrology geek (I was really hoping to glass my very, very, very hot neighbors across the way) so it took me a minute to find the glowing orb with the sighting tube. The thing is very sensitive to any movement and the slightest adjustment puts me a million sky miles off target. Well after 5:27, and a few dozen mosquito bites later, I saw a fairly rapid darkening of the moon. Within just a few minutes, the entire thing disappeared, then after what somewhere between 5-7 minutes later, it began to reappear and take on an almost full, although by now, somewhat orange, appearance.
So after all of that, I returned to my comfy bed, feeling somewhat cool for having witnessed my first lunar eclipse in my entire life... Oh, and I saw a shooting star too, so I wished that the telescope wasn't such an obvious and sensitive toy, cause you know - hot neighbors. :drool:
For some odd reason, my dog woke me up wanting to go out at 5:15, so out we go and I remembered the eclipse. I looked toward the southwest and saw what had been an almost full moon last nite, beginning to get a hazy shadow on the dome, crown, cap, crest, top half, whatever. I took the dog back in and brought out the telescope my daughters gave me for Christmas. I'm not an astrology geek (I was really hoping to glass my very, very, very hot neighbors across the way) so it took me a minute to find the glowing orb with the sighting tube. The thing is very sensitive to any movement and the slightest adjustment puts me a million sky miles off target. Well after 5:27, and a few dozen mosquito bites later, I saw a fairly rapid darkening of the moon. Within just a few minutes, the entire thing disappeared, then after what somewhere between 5-7 minutes later, it began to reappear and take on an almost full, although by now, somewhat orange, appearance.
So after all of that, I returned to my comfy bed, feeling somewhat cool for having witnessed my first lunar eclipse in my entire life... Oh, and I saw a shooting star too, so I wished that the telescope wasn't such an obvious and sensitive toy, cause you know - hot neighbors. :drool:
