Saturday, June 26, 2010

Lunar Eclipse

While looking for the sunrise at 5:00 this morning, I noticed the moon setting in the opposite direction.  I didn't realize I was observing a partial lunar eclipse.  Later, I learned that what I had seen was a full moon with the earth's shadow blocking part of it.


If the rising sun had been visible at the same time, I would have witnessed selenelion, an uncommon eclipse phenomenon when the sun and the eclipsed moon are visible at the same time.

The clouds to the east were obscuring the sun, but it was still a pleasant sunrise.

25 comments:

cieldequimper said...

Seems I have to get up earlier (and go to bed earlier too!) Fantastic! Have a great Sunday!

Unknown said...

Great photographs of the Eclipse Dianne.
Costas

Allison said...

What a beautiful way to start a Sunday! Fabulous pictures. So inspiring.

Lance said...

Diane,
What wonderful shots of the eclipse! Seeing an eclipse really is so neat...

Icy BC said...

This is stunning, Diane! I'm at a lost looking at your fantastic capture of our wonderful world!

Clytie said...

Wow, what wonderful lunar eclipse photos! I am fascinated by eclipses.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Wow---that is terrific, Diane... How often does that selenelion happen???? That would be awesome....

Thanks for some fabulous photos.
Hugs,
Betsy

Tracy said...

Fabulous capture of the eclipse. I went out to look at it, but it was much too bright in my neighborhood for photos.

Gaelyn said...

And to think I missed it.

angryparsnip said...

FABULOUS !

I read about the eclipse after it happened on Saturday morning, bummer !
For some reason my gmail/yahoo news thought not to post early so I missed it. I didn't see it in the paper either.
Thanks to you I got to see it !

cheers, parsnip

rainfield61 said...

You always have a beautiful start of a day.

clairz said...

Gorgeous shots, and how nice that you figured out what you were seeing and passed on that information to us.

betchai said...

Diane, you are so lucky and blessed to have witnessed this phenomenon and you are right there to freeze the memory with your stunning shots.

Brenda's Arizona said...

Just lovely! Thank you for sharing this with us.

Unknown said...

Fascinating. I love the last pic - the wonderful glow and the distant clouds...

Diane AZ said...

Hi Betsy, the last selenelion was in 2003; I don't know how often they occur.

Barb said...

Great that you caught the eclipse. Those clouds look like part of the mountains. TJ is very cute!

Kass said...

Beautiful photos. The clouds in the last one almost look like a shadow of the mountains.

Stephanie said...

The moon like resting on the hill in the second photo ;-D Thanks for capturing a unique moment for us to see.

Thérèse said...

You have really been blessed by the view. A great capture!

eileeninmd said...

Wonderful capture of the Eclipse. The color is beautiful, great skywatch photos!

DoanLegacy said...

Beautiful sky pictures! The third one is so beautiful!

Joanne Olivieri said...

Oh wow! Magnificent capture here. What a wonderful way to begin the day too. That moon is stunning.

Suzi Smith said...

wow... great to see the lunar eclipse photos.

Lindy said...

What a beautiful sight to see, to start your day!