LUNAR ECLIPSE REPORT

Astronomy Ireland members all over the country braved mother nature's harsh conditions on Wednesday night to view the Lunar Eclipse. We received reports from Dublin, Cork and Offaly.  Some Dublin members drove as far as the Wicklow mountains to observe, weather conditions were harsh and results were poor, a decision was made to travel further south in the hopes of clear skies but they decided to turn around when the rain started falling.  A few were lucky enough on the way back to see the Moon through a break in the cloud and stopped to observe before the cloud rolled over again.  Everyone made their way to the Phoenix park hoping for some shelter from the wind and rain.  They got some brief views when the cloud thinned at times and the rain held off.  The Dublin team were accompanied by an RTÉ cameraman and the report was broadcast on the one o'clock news Thursday, watch the TV clip HERE

David Moore in Wicklow and Dublin reported:

"We watched from 1:30am to 5:10am in mostly cloudy skies, and a bit of rain! But we did get good breaks and saw the ingress, totality and egress.

We got a good view when the Moon was about halfway into the Earth's shadow around 2:15am from Wicklow mountains, near the Sugar Loaf mountain that overlooks Dublin city.

AI's membership secretary reported clear patches allowing the eclipse to be seen around 2am from north Dublin City so we headed in towards the Phoenix Park in the city. Along the way we got further glimpses of the Moon getting deeper in to the umbra.

A few minutes after 3am we got our first glimpse of totality from just outside the Phoenix Park and we saw the total phase for a few more minutes from within the Phoenix Park but through clouds. Still we could see the coppery red colour and that the lower edge of the Moon was brighter, possibly with a bluish tinge.

We didn't see much after mid totality as clouds thickened but later when the Moon was just over half way out of the umbra we got some more glimpses.

Just at the end of the eclipse, around 5am, skies cleared and we saw the end of the eclipse.

I think that anyone who stayed outdoors for the whole 4 hours would have had breaks in the clouds everywhere in Ireland, but those who only checked once would probably only have seen clouds."

David Grennan and Carl O'Beirnes (Astronomy Ireland) at Sir Patrick Moore's house on south coast of England:

We had cloudy skies to begin with but it cleared up for totality and we had good views and got some photos, which we will show at our public lecture about our trip to film the Sky at Night with the BBC and Sir Patrick.  Sir Patrick thought  "This eclipse is a particularly bright one."   Lecture details HERE

Eunan Watters from Malahide in Dublin reported : "Again the perils of winter seeing, no luck last night with very overcast weather in the Malahide area"

Dave McCann from Rhode in Co. Offaly reported: " Very disappointing night in the end.  Early signs were ok.  the cloud cover was originally thin enough to allow a reasonable view of the Moon.  Decided to go to bed at 11:30pm to get a few hours sleep before the main event.  When I got up at 3am the cloud had thickened so much I couldn't spot where the Moon was.  When I went outside there was light drizzle.  Observed for a few minutes without any sign of the Moon.  Decided to give up and go back to bed at 3:20am!"

John Meade in Co. Cork reports:  A Chara, Too cloudy in Cork last night to see much."

 

Martin McKenna in Maghera, Co. Derry reports:  The weather here in Maghera, Co. Derry, N. Ireland was awful.  We had a cold front passing through which delivered cloud, wind and rain all night.  However, I didn't give up and periodically watched the clouds in the hope of seeing something.  Even if I got a brief naked eye glimpse I would consider it a success.  I did!  At 00:45 it was raining and the fast moving stratus illuminated orange by street lights was rather thin.  Suddenly the bright glow of the Moon could be seen, then the disk itself.  The disk was a sorry sight as a  white milky blur with clouds sweeping past but I could see that the disk was not perfect.  On the western side I could see a distinct dark shadow caused by the bite of the Umbra.  I watched for 15minutes with the naked eye (which stung in the rain) and in my 10x50mm binoculars, the objective lens was splattered with rain drops.

 

At 02:25 UT I got another 10 minute look with the naked eye and I was amazed to see that the very dark Umbral shadow had marched a substantial distance across the disk.  In fact, half the Moon was missing.  It looked like a thick waxing crescent.  this was my most memorable view of the night.  Photography was impossible though.  the cloud thickened and I continued to watch the event on the various eclipse webcams.  I did a last watch from 03:30 to 05:00 and despite seeing the glow from the Moon at 05:00 the clouds were unrelentless!  Still, at least I saw something so I consider it a success.  Totality was washed put however, I did notice a slight drop in light levels during this period. 

 

Damian Peach sent this report and  picture taken in Sir Patrick Moore's garden:  Here is a rather scenic picture of totality from the early hours of this morning observed through mist/fog at Patrick Moore's home in Selsey, UK. Conditions were far from great, with allot of cloud pre totality. Skies didn't begin to clear up until totality was well underway, but we did get some very nice views of it during the last 20-30mins of totality through a misty looking sky.

 

                                        

Image shows the Moon over the weather vane located on the chimney with Saturn/Regulus nearby.

 

Jamie Cooper (UK), a colleague of Damian Peach, sent these exceptional images:  Here is my take on a very challenging eclipse as seen from Southern UK.

Much of the time the Moon was hidden under a blanket of cloud and sea mist, with occasional glimpses through cloud gaps. Even then the transparency was dire. it did make for some atmospheric shots though..

 

Pete Lawrence (UK) reports:  The mist added a certain something to the shots but it was difficult to deal with in terms of getting the exposures consistent. Here are a couple of my results.

 

 

Conor O'Reilly sent us this lovely picture: 

 

Denton P Walter in Swords, Co. Dublin sends us this report:  From my location at the time (Swords) I saw only intermittent bits of it around 03.00 hrs. Visibility was very poor, overcast and raining. I did observe a reddish colour, but was only able to see the Moon for quite a short time.

 

Seamus Bonner in Dublin reports:  From the comfort of the skylight window in our attic at home (Dublin Northside), I saw the eclipse from about 1.30 to 3.00 a.m reasonably well, through cloud which ranged from light to heavy hazy. Only for a few seconds at one stage was the Moon obliterated by the clouds. Even when the rain started, I could still see the eclipse developing. When it was 100% I retired for the night.  Because of the cloud I could not make out the usual orange glow that accompanies a Lunar Eclipse.

Michael E Murphy in Dundrum, south Dublin sent us this report: I checked the moon at 1:30 but it was too cloudy.  I checked later on at 3:30 and the cloud was thinning.  For the last 20 minutes of totality the clouds cleared up and I saw the Moon framed by Saturn and Regulus.  The southern rim was a very bright white but the rest was a lovely pale red/orange with the northern rim being very dark.  I tried to take a photo but it was too windy.

 

Our Honorary Secretary Tony Ryan sent this comment:  The following page may be of interest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_21,_2008_lunar_eclipse

 

Anthony Ayiomamitis in Greece sends this report and some stunning pictures: The moon put on another incredible display of colour over the course of a few hours early yesterday morning and this year's first total lunar eclipse. For my location, the moon had started to descend along the western sky with totality starting at 29d altitude and concluding 50 minutes later at 15d altitude. Perhaps my greatest challenge was my chosen foreground, the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, Greece and a two-hr drive south of Athens, where the lighting on the grounds was turned off at 3 AM local time and a full two hours before the start of totality. Having panicked, I could not find any means to capture both the moon and the foreground with a single exposure until I came up with the wild and crazy idea to drive my car onto a strictly forbidden area and use the car's lights (high-beams) to light up the Temple. My 50 euro investment (bribe for the local guard on duty to allow me to drive the car onto the desired area) was rewarded by the images below. 

Gary Walker of the UK sent this report: