Books by Philip S. Harrington Click on a book cover to learn more
|
The Dowling College Science Exploration Club sponsored an eclipse party at the school's Oakdale, New York, campus for the October 27 total lunar eclipse. Some 50 people, including club members, students, faculty, and friends, gathered round half a dozen telescopes to view the spectacle. Clouds earlier during the day broke as promised late in the afternoon to give all a wonderful view of one of the finest eclipses in recent memory. Subtle penumbral shading was first detected about 25 minutes before first umbral contact at 9:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time. As the umbra progressed across the lunar disk, it became apparent from the brightness of the eclipsed portion of the lunar disk that this was going to be a bright eclipse. Indeed, as totality began and continued, the Moon took on a dark orange, coppery color that was punctuated by a bright, slightly yellowish glow along the northern limb. At mid-eclipse, the eclipse's luminosity value was estimated as 2.4 on the 0-to-4 Danjon scale. The montage below was taken by the author at the prime focus of a 4-inch f/10 Vixen refractor using a Canon Digital Rebel (300D) digital single-lens reflex. Exposure data is listed below.
|