Here’s what Maureen said on her blog about them:

The alarm went off at 4:15 a.m. so I could get up on a cold night and watch the moon and its light on the water change with the lunar eclipse. The sky started out pretty crystal clear, but advanced into thin clouds.

I was just shooting with my little Canon G10, so I have to accept the equipment limitations, but the image sequence is still dramatic and beautiful.

This image was shot at 5:24 while sitting at my desk, looking out through the window to Puget Sound. Note that the eclipse was well underway. The three red light towers are on Vashon Island. (A street light illuminated the cherry tree down in my yard, and cast just enough light into my office to cause a slight reflection on the window.)

Click image to see larger version.

Here’s a series taken during the two hours that I watched out my window, shot at these times:

• 4:44
• 5:05
• 5:15
• 5:18
• 5:48
• 5:59
• 6:01

No, the moon did not “flare” and cause a brighter image in the third shot. At times I changed the camera settings to pick up details either in the moon’s shadow or highlight.

They had predicted a very orange moon, which my eye did not see at all. The camera did, however, in the 5th and 6th shots, when I adjusted to capture the shadowed part of the moon.

A couple of notes jotted:

• 5:58 Just a shimmer of light.
• 6:00 A wisp at the bottom edge.
• 6:04 Not enough left in the sky to shoot.
• 6:15 NO moon. NO light! Time to go back to bed.

Scroll down to view each phase, or CLICK HERE to see a separate, horizontal version.

Click image to see larger version.

Be sure to follow Maureen’s most excellent blog here.

Click to Play Francis Zera’s Slideshow

A lunar eclipse. But not just any lunar eclipse; a total eclipse. And in conjunction with Winter Solstice. That hasn’t happened since 1636 and won’t happen again for 372 years.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get the full view. Living where we do, we should be used to that by now. The cloud cover obscured the moon for most of the event and prevented us from seeing a colorful moon while it was in the Earth’s shadow.

The weather didn’t stop photographer Michael Brunk from dragging his camera and tripod out into the yard and trying his luck.

by Ralph Nichols

When the United States eventually returns to space after the shuttle program is retired next year, “we can go back to the moon and on to other planets,” Apollo 8 astronaut William A. Anders said at the Museum of Flight in Tukwila recently.

Anders, a retired major general in the US Air Force Reserve, was keynote speaker at a private luncheon hosted by the museum and the Seattle Symphony honoring the Apollo missions. It was held on the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 12 – the second mission to land men on the moon.

Astronaut William A. Anders was one of the first three persons to have left Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. Photo credit: NASA, 1967

In remarks given between symphonic works at the concert, Anders, the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 8 mission – the first manned lunar orbit mission, recalled that President Kennedy, determined “to demonstrate that America was not second rate … and would not lose the missile gap,” would land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s.

“And that was done,” added Anders, whose reflection on the Apollo 8 mission, “We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth,” has become a famous quote.

Even more famous are his pictures, the first taken of the earth from the moon, including “Earthrise,” which he took on Christmas Eve, 1968:

William A. Anders' "Earthrise" is the first photo taken of the Earth from the Moon.

“The space program today,” he said at the Museum of Flight, “has had some spectacular flights … and spectacular successes with the space shuttle. But the shuttle will be grounded next year.”

Now NASA is working on new space vehicles, and with the vision of companies like Boeing and leaders like Bill Allen, the long-time CEO of the aerospace giant, the United States “will go back into space.”

Seahurst Park is having a Moonlit Beach walk this Saturday, Jan. 10th from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. There is no charge, but it will be cold so participants are asked to bundle up, bring a bright flashlight with good batteries, wading boots, warm hat & dry gloves.

Naturalists will be on the beach during the full moon at low tide to share information and guide walks.

Here’s a blurb from the Seahurst Environmental Science Center website:

Imagine you’re on the shoreline at a lovely low tide.

Rocks that are covered all year lie exposed to view while the sea animals remain happily cold and wet in the dark.

All around you, people with flashlights are intently studying the amazing and  abundant sea life as local naturalists help you discover the wonders of your Puget Sound shoreline.

For more information contact Barb or Darrell Williams at (206) 901-1964.

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