Beautiful Eclipsed Moon
Theoretically, the total lunar eclipse on the night of December 20/21 was visible from all of Canada. The reality was much different, with clouds and ice fog foiling many would-be observers. Among the lucky ones were SkyNews associate editor Alan Dyer, who recorded the event in minus-20-degree conditions from his home near Strathmore, Alberta, and SkyNews assistant editor Todd Carlson, observing under minus-25-degree clear skies at his home observatory in Burk’s Falls, Ontario. A full report will appear in the March/April SkyNews. Click on images for enlarged view.
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The overexposed fully eclipsed Moon sits in front of the winter Milky Way in this Alan Dyer 60-second exposure with an ultrawide-angle 15mm lens at f/3.2 on a Canon 5D MkII digital camera. Both before and after the eclipse, the light of the full Moon entirely washed out the Milky Way.
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Using high-dynamic range processing, Alan Dyer produced this composite of nine images (1/125- to 2-second exposures), creating a strikingly realistic portrait of the Moon’s visual partial-eclipse appearance about 20 minutes before totality. Canon 7D at ISO 400, 130mm f/6 apo refractor.
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| For this 4-second exposure of the fully eclipsed Moon showing the classic coppery hue of a total lunar eclipse, Todd Carlson used a Canon 50D digital SLR camera at ISO 400 at the focus of a 4-inch Vixen f/9 apochromatic refractor telescope atop a Losmandy equatorial mount. The centre of the Earth’s shadow is near the bottom of the Moon in this view. |
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