From midnight to 3AM this morning, Australians were fortunate enough to catch a great view of the last full lunar eclipse until 2014. Those in the best position were on the east coast, with Sydney being ideal. I’m not sure what it was like in Melbourne — I was too busy hiding away from the rain, which I’m sure would have impaled me had I wandered outside.
Compared to a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipses provides a bigger window of opportunity for observers — not only do they last longer (hours, rather than minutes), anyone on the night side of the planet can potentially see it. The red appearance is caused by the reflected sunlight scattering in the Earth’s atmosphere, with the longer wavelengths punching through better than the shorter ones.
The best place to be during a lunar eclipse isn’t Earth at all — according to NASA, the Earth is surrounded by a fiery-glow during such an event. How are those astronaut credentials shaping up for 2014?
If you happened to see the eclipse or, even better, captured a shot, please share in the comments below.
Image: NASA
Luke
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 1:33 PMI wished i had seen it, i was up that time of morning but Adelaide was under thick cloud so i couldn’t see it :(
I have seen a few before though.
poltak
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 1:43 PMDidn’t look anything near that picture hear in Hong Kong… :( Was just mild redish-blackish colour. Although at least I didn’t get impaled by rain over here (but it was freezing).
Seph Jonathan
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 2:08 PMI saw this in Eastwood, Sydney!!! Damn I was freaked out ay!!
Muhrlynn
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 2:13 PMwe enjoyed a full moon all night and the lunar eclipse started around 1/4 to 7 in the morning (still dark in Saskatchewan), there was no reddish tinge. the moon was it’s usual colour, the eclipse was awesome! took a few pics with my digital that were fairly blurry of course (no tripod), but great all the same!
Lance
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 2:16 PMI did see it intermittently last night, even had my camera out to take a few photos of it but here’s one of the shots i processed.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/ozshadow/works/8189709-one-who-disturbs-his-sleep
Viviane
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 2:28 PMIt was amazing!!! Saw the whole thing slept under it!
Grim
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 2:31 PMI spent a couple of hours trying to get some good shots of it. I made a little animation – check out the comments here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradgorman/6490190501/
Daniel
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 2:34 PMIt was pretty red here in perth also. I assumed because viewers from india and japan experienced it, that the entire east coast missed out – not just melbourne.
Was pretty good though. I was explaining to my brother’s girlfriend that it would be a better view from the moon because the earth would have a bright red-orange outline around it right now
Adam
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 2:42 PMSaw all of the partial phase but only got a few minutes view of totality before cloud intercepted. Took plenty of photos of it from my location which is Kempsey, NSW.
Hope to be heading to Cairns next year for the solar eclipse in November!
Charles
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 3:56 PMI saw it here in Bris before the rain came – very pretty.
Jp
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 4:35 PMMelbourne was mostly under cloud, which made me sad.
Missed it too.
Some really good shots have come from some of my friends in Perth, who spent the evening up at the observatory in the hills.
background light? What background light?
Marcus
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 5:24 PMI saw it on the Gold Coast, looked great !
jesse
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 5:27 PMi made a time-lapse, pretty happy, worked out well…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMvY–yffJ4&feature=player_embedded
hope you like it!
Max
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 5:57 PMDamn, why did no one tell me?
BCK
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 8:12 PMCouldn’t see a damn thing @ 1am in Melbourne, 360deg of nothing in the sky.
Might have been some cloud covering it that i couldn’t see. Disappointed!
HR
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 8:18 PMWas clouded over and raining :(
Ben
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 8:52 PMConditions were excellent for Perth. Skies were completely clear and you could see every phase of the eclipse.
jm
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 9:32 PMCouldnt see it in Ballarat, Vic at midnight and called it quits because clouds were thick with no hint of a break in the view.
Mr. K
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 9:42 PMHad a fairly decent shot at it from Perth. Always find it so hard to get a sharp focus on the moon for some reason..
http://bit.ly/vXLt4k
smurfydog
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 11:29 PMDidn’t see this before making my comment below.
That’s a great shot! Lunar photography is always tricky. There’s so much atmosphere between you and the moon that a sharp shot is a rare catch indeed. Yours is nothing to apologise about.
smurfydog
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 11:25 PMVery cloudy and wet here in Melbourne.
The reminder I had set on my phone beeped only minutes before the first thunderclaps. I didn’t even bother wondering outside. :(
Parker
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 12:31 AMHad a massive storm right over Mornington + thick cloud cover so couldn’t see a thing :(
Johnny
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 12:33 AMLive in Sydney but was in Melbourne last night! :-) It was very clouded so did not see anything!!! but the funny thing was heavy rain went the eclipse finished!!!
light487
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 8:22 AMIt always sucks when the weather doesn’t play nice with the rest of the cosmos..
sid
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 10:25 AMThat example is a little too saturated – this is what I got up in the Blue Mountains – 900m up where the air is clearer. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sid1662/6489114941/