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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

eclipse



Click on images to enlarge (I think one doesn't work though). I also posted the last image at my photoblog flying.

It was perfectly clear. What are the chances of that for two total eclipses in a row within seven months?

It was cold, but not as cold as I expected. It was just 10°F (-11°C).

See how in the second image, where the eclipse is partial, the shadow is black. But as the shadow of the earth eclipsed the moon further, the shadow became more red, being affected by the earth's atmosphere, and because the light faded, allowing the red to be more visible. So the final image is when the moon is almost totally eclipsed, even though it just looks like a red harvest moon. I didn't see any turquoise, as the NASA site suggested in yesterday's post. It was too cold to stay out for the whole totality (until 10:30pm or so).

29 comments:

rauf said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rauf said...

Stunning clarity Ruth, lovely pictures. Believe me i would love to eat it, the red moon looks so tasty, so sad it is just a piece of rock.

For ages moon was associated with our mental condition, lunacy lunatic.
Lunatic or not lunatic, moon plays a huge role in Indian life. Nothing pleasant is associated with lunar eclipse. It is considered to be a bad omen in India.
some myths are very intersting.

This is a cut and paste Ruth.

This is a native American myth.

The Moon is a man who has twenty wives and a house full of pets consisting of mountain lions, bears and snakes. To feed his pets, the man goes out to hunt. After the hunt he carries all the game back to his house for his pets, but they are not satisfied with what he has brought them. In anger, the pets attack the man, who begins to bleed. This is represented by the Moon turning a reddish colour during a lunar eclipse. One of the Moon's wives is Frog and when she sees the predicament her husband is in, she rushes to help him. Frog beats away the pets. Then she and the other wives collect up the Moon's blood and he can then recover

The Ge' are among the Amazonian tribes of Brazil. They also believe that eclipses are a result of a fight between Sun and Moon. They say the eye of the Sun or Moon is pierced by a small boy who shoots them with an arrow. The wound bleeds symbolized by the Moon turning reddish and dimming. A shaman removes the arrow and the wound heals.


The Chinese

The Moon was represented by a mirror in China. During an eclipse, people beating on mirrors is a very old tradition. It was believed that a dragon swallowed the Moon during an eclipse and beating the mirrors would cause the dragon to cough it up and return it to the sky


i deleted the comment as one myth got pasted twice.

rauf said...

In 1503, Columbus’s ships were run aground on
Jamaica's southern coast. They were too rotted from
shipworm to safely carry their crews back to Spain.
Columbus was stranded with 115 sailors for more
than a year, waiting for rescue. At first, natives were
willing to provide food, but they were tired of this. Columbus
needed a way to persuade them to continue.
He knew from an almanac that a lunar eclipse was
due to occur the last night of February in 1504. So
he told the natives that his God was angry with them
and would show his anger that evening. When the natives
saw the moon disappearing they were terrified
and promised to take care of the sailors if Columbus
would restore the moon. The natives provided food
for the crew until they were rescued later that year.

Anonymous said...

Stunning Ruth, thank you so much for sharing....we had.....fog >:-(( but these you made are so sharp and clear, I am impressed, thanks again!!!

Loring Wirbel said...

You are so lucky, we had a moment of clear sky for the half-eclipse, but all clouded over at the moment of full eclipse.

Unknown said...

WOW!!!!! i am totaly in awe of these amazing photos my sweet mamman! it was so fun to be a part of it. a perfect view from chris' window, i could just get up from the sofa (while watching T3, rise of the machines), grab the binoculars, and check it out. i missed the turquoise too...maybe only visible for a few minutes, or from certain areas?
NASA should buy these photos from you.
lovesssssss.

Bob Johnson said...

Excellent images Ruth, well done! -17c here in Saskatoon.

Bob Johnson said...

I haven't looked at all my images but I did notice some with turquoise, will post later if I find a good one. Again good shots.

MYM said...

Awesome! I think these could be an entire chapter in that book you should do! :)

Ginnie Hart said...

These are just fantastic images, Ruth! You can be darn-tootin' proud of them. How fun for you, though COLD. Brrrr.

Mrs. SwedeHart said...

On the run, but always have time to look at your pictures, and doozies they are! We were completely cloud covered. I had hoped to take my students outside and view it with them, so next time we are in class, I'll share these pictures with them:D

MYM said...

I have a post up with your link and some of your photos...thanks for letting me do that :)

Ruth said...

rauf, the myths help me imagine what life was like when they didn't understand what the balls in the sky were. stories, oral story telling, made life more interesting, more understandable. I have heard that health services, at hospitals and other places, see a real upturn in maladies during the full moon.

The Columbus story is very like Mark Twain's "A Connectitut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." Maybe it's where he got his idea.

BTW, rauf, Hal Holbrook, who has performed his interpretation of Mark Twain for 40 years, has been nominated for his supporting role in "Into the Wild." He just turned 88. He's seen a few full moons. And didn't Twain write about Haley's comet, another omen in the sky?

Ruth said...

Astrid, thank you. I'm sorry you had fog and couldn't see it. Is it lifting yet?

Ruth said...

Loring, it was strange because part of the first half of the eclipse went very quickly. Then the shadow stayed the same for a long time. I loved seeing the shadow go from black to orange. What elevation to you live at?

Ruth said...

Ewwww, daughter. Was the moon hanging over the cemetery?? That would be sooo cool. Bwwwaaahhh.

Yep, I think the turquoise showed at the very beginning of the totality (10-ish) and at the very end (10:40-ish).

Thank you, sweet pea.

Ruth said...

Bob, so we had the same temp. I never did warm up that night, and now I have a cold. :| I think it was already setting in before the eclipse though.

Your site is soooo great!

Ruth said...

Drowsey, you are something else! Thank you for all the nice things you've said about my photos, and now for the "gallery" at your blog/s! I'm bowled over.

Ruth said...

Boots, it's so hard to tell looking at the LCD how the pictures will be. I was happy some were not blurred. You know, my little camera is a little trooper.

Ruth said...

SwedeHart, oh I'm sorry you couldn't watch. But that's so fun that you want to share these photos so they can see what it looks like. I guess that's one good reason to freeze my tush!

Ruth said...

My math is bad, no surprise. Holbrook just turned 83.

Loring Wirbel said...

Ruth, I'm at 7600 feet. The air is thin up here.

Mrs. SwedeHart said...

Yes, thank you for your efforts:D

Ruth said...

Loring, you must have some terrifc stardust up there. I lived at 7,000 in Oregon for a semester and had never known stardust before. Stopped in my tracks one of my first nights and stared. Too bad you didn't have visibility of the eclipse up there.

Ruth said...

SwedeHart, :D

Unknown said...

wait question...were these taken with your new camera?? chris is impressed with the quality of your photos.

Ruth said...

Nope, sweetie, this is the Olympus. Thanks to Chris. :)

mystic rose said...

Oh wow, thanks for the photos, Im glad I got to see atleast these!

Ruth said...

You're welcome, Mystic. I was so lucky to have a clear night.