Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Lunar Eclipse - Wide Angle

This is a composite of two separate shots from the lunar eclipse of April 15, 2014. One image is a 30-second exposure that captured the background stars, and the other is a 15-second exposure that captured the detail on the Moon.

Normally, only the brightest stars would be visible during a full moon. During a lunar eclipse, however, the dimmer stars are visible.

The bright, bluish star to the lower right of the Moon is Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. The very bright orange star near the upper right is the planet Mars.


Lunar Eclipse of April 15, 2014

A cold front passed through the region and the skies cleared up in time for this long-anticipated lunar eclipse. I went to bed early and got up shortly before the Moon was completely engulfed in Earth's shadow. It was a spectacular night!

April 15, 2014 Lunar Eclipse; ST80 on Vixen SP, 2X Barlow; Canon EOS Rebel T3; 4x15 @ ISO-800