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Yours truly
Lunar Eclipse, 15 May 2003
The moon was already fully eclipsed when it rose in California on the evening of 15 May 2003. The haze in the air was so thick that we couldn't see it until it had risen 15-20 degrees above the horizon. However, it was still nearly completely eclipsed when it did appear and I started taking pictures immediately. This composite provides a crude picture of what took place. It is of interest that the moon did not appear particularly red to the naked eye, nor to my binocular-aided eyes, but the initial film images are distinctly red (without any attempt to alter the color balance in Photoshop). Apparently my eyes were adapting to the reddish color and telling me the moon was its normal, silvery tint. Lots of critters were out watching the event (see below).
| Date | 2003-05-15 |
| Optics |
Nikkor 80-200 mm zoom at f/2.8 with Tamron 2X extender, on a Nikon F100 camera on a fixed tripod. |
| Exposure |
The four frames are single 5, 2, 1/10, and 1/500 sec exposures,respectively, on Kodak Supra 400 film, pushed one stop. |
| Processing |
Scanned on a Polaroid SS35+. Levels and curves adjusted in Photoshop 7. |
Ode to the Moon (after Rusalka, by Dvorak)