Faint Eclipse of the Hunter's Moon
As Oct. 18th came to a close, a dusky shadow fell across the southern half of the full Hunter's Moon. It was a faint "penumbral" lunar eclipse. Observing from the Canary islands, Frank A. Rodriguez Ramirez photographed the Moon (left) two hours before and (right) at the moment of maximum eclipse:
"We had bad weather for the eclipse," says Rodriguez Ramirez. "I captured these pictures between small holes in clouds."
A penumbral eclipse happens when the Moon passes through the pale outskirts of Earth's shadow. It is much less dramatic than a total lunar eclipse. In fact, when observers are not alerted beforehand, they often do not realize an eclipse is underway. Nevertheless, the subtle shadow of Earth is visible to the naked eye if you know it's there.
No comments:
Post a Comment