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Eclipse!

Don't forget, you sky watchers and supernerds... there is an eclipse tonight, and this website says between 10 and 10:52pm tonight the moon will be fully eclipsed.

So we're going out. maybe you will too.

in the meantime, my kids are checking the skies every couple minutes, insisting now that it looks like it is starting.

I wish i were 11 again.

Have a great night UHland.


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Comments

yes -- my kids weren't seeing things. it has started. bottom left "corner" is gone.

this is fun.

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it started at 8:43pm EST, technically only a partial eclipse. it becomes full at 10:01pm EST. if you look at it now, it will indeed be getting darker.

sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.../TLE2008Feb21.html

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moon
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Awesome picture! How did you take it?

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Thanks!

Canon S5 IS in manual-focus mode set to infinity (the autofocus just wasn't cutting it). I'm not sure if I took this one while holding the camera in both hands or balancing it on the back windshield of my car.

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I just got one for Christmas 2007. :)

I'd add my pics but unfortunately, my personal website server is down right now so I can't access my gallery. I'm too lazy to get flickr, etc. I'll fix it in the morning and add a shot or two too.

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Well, I got the pics off my camera...and found I have a lot to learn about my new S5. :P

IMAGE(http://zhang.bu.edu/pictures/lunareclipse/IMG_0083.sized.jpg)

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You're shooting something 240,000 miles away!

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Thanks for the confidence boost, but that was even on a tripod (which I was abusing to try and keep the moon in frame). I was also attempting a few shots with some aperture control to see if I could increase the chance of getting Saturn in the shot at the same time, but that was fruitless. The light balance between the Moon and Saturn was just too unwieldy.

I'll get a better hang of things. I love the camera and its options. Color swap and accent have to be two of the coolest features ever. Even the auto-fire mode isn't too bad.

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I've never had much luck with them, because just the act of pressing on the button seems to be enough to cause problems with longer exposures. If only you could trigger the camera remotely (without having to move up to an SLR). But I should also probably experiment with a more stable platform than the rear windshield and trunk of my car :-).

The other thing to keep in mind with this camera: The more zoom you use, the harder it is to keep something steady in the photo, especially in the dark. The resolution on the camera's so good that you don't always need full zoom - that sorta black-and-white photo I posted initially was probably the best one I took and it was only maybe half zoom.

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My friend who was using his Canon Eos DSLR (don't remember the exact model) mounted to his 4" telescope took this pic:

IMAGE(http://photos-752.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v203/232/102/1066067752/n1066067752_30193_7204.jpg)

His trick to steady tripod/camera-mount shots:

Use the self-timer, then your pressing of the button is over well before the timer fires the picture. All you have to do is keep your object in frame while the timer starts counting. I know our S5s also have self-timers, but I was being cold and lazy not to use it like he was.

Hope that helps!

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The self-timer! Most cool, thanks.

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I was lucky. My house is situated so that the moon rises outside my kitchen window. I had a tripod set up on my counter, open the window to take the shot, then close it again, thus avoiding the frostbite this time.

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Here (for those of you who are not Joe).

Ah, indoors. While I was outside freezing my thumbs off, my wife opened our bedroom window, looked up at the moon, then suggested I come inside and set up on the windowsill. Of course, I had to go for authenticity :-).

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Videoing it from the roof of my building. I have a mini tripod which is so poorly designed that it can't completely support the weight of my video camera (which weighs less than a pound), so I had to hold it in place for over 12 minutes, while the video wasn't completely steady, it came out ok. On the plus side, I did get to meet one of my neighbors who came up to see it too.

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moon
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I just got back home from Larz Anderson Park in Brookline. It's Astronomy Central during events like this. Lots of people and cops and a few dogs. Not too many telescopes, though. I was surprised. Usually all the amateur stargazers come out with their scopes.

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Here.

Another nice one a bit further along, along with some bonus Southie fun:

Random Lady: "Hey, do you see the eclipse?"

Jason: "Yeah"

Random Lady: "We should all sing 'Total Eclipse of the Haaaaat' together"

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and it turned out to be a fantastic eclipse.

I took a series from the back porch in JP, see here. I wasn't using a zoom since I wanted to get as many I could in the frame, so each one is a bit small, but I'm happy with the effect.

Although going back outside every eight minutes for an hour and a half gets rather cold and a little tedious after a while.

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MY WIFE and I stood out in the backyard, cold as hell, but happy. It was fun.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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I'm wondering why you always write WIFE in all caps. Is it an acronym for something?

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Just something I've always used in writing on my blog, in small bits I've had published elsewhere, etc. The thing is she doesn't want me to use her actual name when I write (can you blame her?) but I wanted to do something that would still make her position in my life apparent. So, all caps.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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would probably get her angry attention, however ...

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October 27, 2004: Red Sox win the World Series.

April 3, 1996: First night of Passover.

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