This is really cool

Did a timelapse last night of the super blood moonjoecappa.commusic by Milver

Posted by Joe Cappa on Monday, September 28, 2015

by Joe Cappa, wending its way through Facebook. Hope you got to see it in person, but if not, this makes a nice recap.

I did get to see the eclipse after all

Reddit user Bluerainbowsanddrain (Public Domain photo from Wikipedia)

Although I came back in once we reached totality because, frankly, I got spooked by a skunk. See, I live near a reservoir and its associated marsh, and we've got raccoons, muskrats, all sorts of animals. So I had set up a chair and was watching the moon, which was about a quarter obscured when I began, with binoculars [which I did not recall having them in a pack that came with a tiny flashlight, a compass, and a pen knife, but that's so cool], and I hear something. I look and about 10 feet in front of me a HUGE skunk came by, and I was very, very quiet. It slipped up by the neighbouring building and then across the parking lot. I continued and watched until the dragon had eaten every bit of the moon, made a couple of tweets, and then headed inside. It was pretty hazy towards the total eclipse peak, and hard to see the moon with much clarity even through the binoculars. But I got some lovely views prior to that. I wish I could have actually taken a decent picture--my cell phone doesn't do much of anything, and I have a very basic little digital camera that isn't much better, in terms of photographing moving celestial objects. I even tried to take a shot with my phone through the binoculars, to no avail. Ah, well. Hopefully you got to see it, too. I went out again a couple of minutes ago and the moon is a dark blood red, but is obscured by clouds so it's really hard to see. Still, it was nice to see one; I haven't in quite awhile. And I'm totally psyched for our total solar eclipse in two years. Yay!

That was close

I was helping YKWIA with a few things before I came home and forgot to help him set his DVR for 'American Horror Story' tonight. So of course I remember this after I'm already in the car, with about 9 minutes on the clock to get home in the hopes of setting my own DVR for it. I got in, parked the car at the first available spot, left everything in there, ran into the house (well, as much as I actually 'run'), turned on the TV and cable box, found the channel, and set the DVR, just as it was going into 'viewer discretion advised'. Now it's recording. None of us were up to staying up extra late tonight for it. I called an left a message that I was recording it. They'll have to come over to my house to watch, but oh, well. Of course, maybe he went ahead and set it, I don't know. Of course, I don't know exactly how I feel about this iteration of the popular show. For one, clowns really creep me out. Ordinary clowns. (Which is bad when you work in a children's hospital). I expect 'American Horror Story' clowns will be even more sinister.

Today I took a friend to a doctor's appointment and worked on the notes while he was in there. I'm almost finished with the game notes; I've got about 45 minutes of game play to transcribe, and it's not like I do it 'blow for blow' or anything. So it shouldn't take too long. I would work on it now, but I'm tired (I have been all day, it's like I never slept last night), but I'm relaxing to some of Bastille's music.

So we got back to his house and watched an episode each of 'Fringe' and 'Haven'. Now I'm home and seriously thinking of going to bed. One reason I'm sleepy is that I got up early to watch the eclipse. I even got a not-so-great picture (I've never had a camera that could do justice to the moon), showing the red shadow of the lunar eclipse. I was one of the lucky ones who were in the area experiencing a selenelion. The arrangement and trees were such that I couldn't see the moon and sun at exactly the same moment and position; but if I moved a pace back and forth, I could see each within a few seconds of one another. It was fun.

Okay, time to relax. Good night.

Here's hoping for good weather

Total Lunar Eclipse on Wednesday: The Complete Skywatcher's Guide

Total Lunar Eclipse On Wednesday Will Be a Rare 'Selenelion'

Observers of Wednesday morning's total lunar eclipse might be able to catch sight of an extremely rare cosmic sight.

On Oct. 8, Interested skywatchers should attempt to see the total eclipse of the moon and the rising sun simultaneously. The little-used name for this effect is called a "selenelion," a phenomenon that celestial geometry says cannot happen.

And indeed, during a lunar eclipse, the sun and moon are exactly 180 degrees apart in the sky. In a perfect alignment like this (called a "syzygy"), such an observation would seem impossible. But thanks to Earth's atmosphere, the images of both the sun and moon are apparently lifted above the horizon by atmospheric refraction. This allows people on Earth to see the sun for several extra minutes before it actually has risen and the moon for several extra minutes after it has actually set.

I live on the western area of the Eastern Time Zone, so there's a chance I could actually see the moon in eclipse as the sun rises. I'll definitely plan on getting up and ready earlier than usual so I can enjoy it, if possible. :)

For those of us who missed it

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Absolutely beautiful, and a wonderful choice of music (Claude Debussy's Nocturnes: Sirènes). Thanks, Jody!

For those, like, me whose weather didn't cooperate

Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Here are some other great pictures.

Happy Solstice! Yay for the turning of the year back to longer days and shorter nights!