Thursday, February 21, 2008

Lunar

Picture 017

I went out to the burbs last night to meet up with some coworkers I haven't seen in months since I started working from home. And it worked out well to be out there during the eclipse since the light pollution is less out there than in the city. Although I probably would have gotten more shots before and after the peak if I wasn't otherwise occupied. But I did go out just before the peak (in the bitter cold!) and set up the tripod and 300mm lens. This was the best closeup I got, and it's minimally processed. Here's a pretty good explanation from wikipedia for why it turns red:

The red colouring arises because sunlight reaching the Moon must pass through a long and dense layer of the Earth's atmosphere, where it is scattered. Shorter wavelengths are more likely to be scattered by the small particles, and so by the time the light has passed through the atmosphere, the longer wavelengths dominate. This resulting light we perceive as red. This is the same effect that causes sunsets and sunrises to turn the sky a reddish colour; an alternative way of considering the problem is to realise that, as viewed from the Moon, the Sun would appear to be setting (or rising) behind the Earth.

5 comments:

~tanty~ said...

Wonderful photo!

Sailor Girl said...

AWSOME!!!!

Strangetastes said...

Good work, and better than anything I got last night. I was out in the cul-de-sac in front of the house with my tripod and remote shutter release but I just couldn't get it focused well enough. I'm surprised that my autofocus didn't work at all. You may have had better luck because you were farther away from light pollution.

So, as I write this a little before 7 on Thursday evening, it's approaching 4 a.m. Friday in Doha and Carolyn should be getting up in an hour or so for her early morning flight to Kathmandu. I don't think she's going to have the time or the brain power to do a one-day Doha Daily Photo Blog. Maybe if she sends us some pix from the next stop one of us can post them.

b.c. said...

awesome shot! nice work

Jana said...

Excellent photos!