Lunar Eclipse 15 June 2011

Here is my version of how the (total) lunar eclipse developed over the Joburg (Johannesburg) sky in South Africa on 15 June 2011.

I took this photo of a "perfect" full moon at 19.40


From about 20.00 one could see that slowly from the "bottom up" the moon started to "cloud over".

This photo was taken at 20.19



By 20.53 only just more than half of the moon is still "lit up".







By now the eclipse of the moon is almost "complete" = at 21.13






Five minutes later (= 21.18) the first "signs" of what all moon-gazers that evening were waiting for - the moon started to "turn" red.




Seven more minutes later (= 21.25) & the moon is red whilst the previously moon-lit environment "turned" dark.





As the light fades my camera "battles" to focus - it was just too dark (= 21.42) to take more "close-up" photos.





This is an example of what I "managed to produce" at 22.41 - for the eye = a magnificent spectacle; camera-wise = a "botched" attempt.



This photo was taken at 23.12 = the end of the lunar eclipse = the moon becomes "visible" again from the bottom up.

It is said that this was the longest eclipse since 2000 BUT it's apparently the 1st of 2 such eclipses this year!! The next one: 10 Dec - hope that on that date, the night sky will be as clear as was the case on 15 June :)