'Moonbow' - Super Blue Blood Moon - 31/1/2018

The second Full Moon of January 2018 on the 31st, when it was also at Perigee, and so closest to Earth in its elliptical orbit, underwent a Total Lunar Eclipse.

This sequence, from East (right) to West (left), shows the ingress of Earth’s shadow leading into total umbral eclipse and the beginning of its egress.

The Moon was low in the East initially causing its yellowish colour due to atmospheric dust. As the eclipse progresses into totality, red light refracted through the Earth’s atmosphere illuminates the moon giving it a Blood Orange colour. On egress The Moon was higher in the sky and its colour is less tainted by atmospheric affects. The overall effect was a fascinating sequence of changing colours, an event that those who witnessed it will long remember.

Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with with Baader MPCC Coma Corector No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 30' x 46' , Ambient 23C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.9 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD2 auto guiding software.

Astrofest 2018 Astrophotography ExhibitionBlue MoonEclipseLunarMoonSuper MoonTotal Lunar Eclipse

From Astrofest 2018 Submissions