Last night I watched the lunar eclipse. It's the first time in years I've seen a total eclipse. This one was billed as especially interesting because the moon was red when the eclipse was total. As I watched the shadow creeping over it, it just seemed to get darker and darker, and the red didn't appear until it was almost total. It stayed red for about 3/4 of an hour, and it was gorgeous. I'd never seen anything like it. It was so luminous! Then the red started getting lighter as the moon started coming out of the shadow, more and more luminous, and finally the red was gone.
This was the night of a full moon, so it was even more spectacular. I could see the whole thing right from my front door. It's amazing to be able to open the door and step outside, and there's the moon, the whole time, and I watched it as it went across the sky. It was a very special experience.
I later heard that the red color is caused by atmospheric pollution. "Dust," somebody unromantically called it. But it was still beautiful.
Here's a scaled-down photo when the eclipse was at max. Click on the photo to see it full-size. The original is on the website of a Madrid university observatory (Universidad Complutense).
And the whole series is
here. It occupies several screens. Look for the
Siguiente lote (next batch) link at the top left and click on through.
It reminded me of when I lived in the mountains of Granada and spent a lot of time watching the moon. The moon is right there, so close, and there's no light pollution so you can see the sky getting brighter each night as the moon gets bigger and bigger, moving toward full moon.
On one occasion, there was something particularly turbulent going on. I don't remember if it a worldwide event or something smaller, but it was a very tense situation. I remember watching the moon one night when there where clouds moving across it. It seemed as if the moon was just up there, paying no attention to all the commotion down here on Earth. She just went along her way, gliding across the sky, unconcerned about us and all our stuff. I had the same sensation last night. It's not like when you just look up and see the moon. It's when there's something going on -- some kind of movement, like the eclipse last night. The moon goes about doing her thing, regardless of what might be happening down here on Earth.
It gives me a very peaceful feeling.
Labels: eclipse, moon
