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Friday, 27 July 2018

Total Eclipse of the Moon - Warsaw

One for the record - today's Total Eclipse of the Moon was quite splendid, yet a subtle phenomenon compared to a solar eclipse (which I last witnessed in Warsaw in 1999). At around 21:15 local time, moonlight was but a slither of white on the top-right, as the earth's shadow advanced across the moon's face. By 21:35, the eclipse was full, the moon red, lit only by the rays of the sun diffracted through the earth's atmosphere.


From a photography point of view, on a night when the moon's luminance is greatly diminished compared to a normal full moon, the single-lens reflex (SLR) design beats the mirrorless camera totally. The SLR lets you watch the events unfold, naturally, through the lens. My mirrorless CoolPix P900 was worse than useless here; not enough light to focus. My Nikon D3300, with Nikkor 80-400mm lens (used to take the above pic) was much better. Photo info: 1/5 sec (on tripod, VR off), f5.6, 11400 ISO, manual metering and focus. Much better (technically) photos will no doubt appear, but I like this juxtaposition of the aircraft and the eclipsed moon.

Below: (almost) back to normal; the Earth's shadow swept across the moon from left to right; here, the last few minutes of the eclipse, shortly after midnight. Photo info: 1/125 sec, f11, 100 ISO. In other words, the normal full moon is around 14 times brighter than when it's under the Earth's shadow.


Next total eclipse, 21 January, 2019. Across North America and the UK, partial over Poland

This time two years ago:
'Others' vs. 'Our others'

This time three year:
Reducing inequality in Polish society

This time five years ago:
Llanbedrog beach

This time seven years ago:
The Accursed Soldiers - a short story

This time  eight years ago:
Driving impressions of the Toyota Yaris
[The car continues to be totally, 100% faultless eight years on.]

This time ten years ago:
Poland's dry summer

This time 11 years ago:
The UK's wettest summer ever

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