6. Total Eclipse of the Moon

September 27, 2015

A spectacular event happened tonight.
A Total Lunar Eclipse took place. This eclipse was special because it happened during a full moon during the closest lunar perigee of 2015. They say the moon appeared 13% bigger than it did during the last eclipse in April.
Our weather forecast was not good for Sunday 9/27. It was cloudy all day and I had given up hope of being able to view the eclipse. Then in late afternoon the sky cleared! I couldn’t believe it. I had been cutting firewood all day and finished at dusk. I hurried home and grabbed my ED80mm Refractor and camera equipment and drove to my favorite viewing site.
By then, the full moon had come up and was about at the tree line. I hurried and got the scope and camera set up and snapped a few pictures. This was truly a “Super Moon.” The moon was huge!

The eclipse began shortly after 10 pm and for the next 45 minutes I watched as more and more of the moon grew dark

SuperMoon
                                                      Eclipse Begins                        
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The Blood Moon (Total Eclipse)

Then as the eclipse started to go the other way, clouds appear again and it was over for me. I took this last cool picture.
  
Tonight's combination of a Super Blood Moon and Lunar Eclipse is a rare occurrence that hasn't happened for 30 years and will not happen again until 2033.