10 December 2011 - One of the rare moments where we had the opportunity to catch the entire duration of a total lunar eclipse in Singapore! The event was at a very "earthly" timing too - the different phases were visible from around 8.30pm to 12.30am local time.
The timing of the phases of the eclipse from NASA:
Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 11:33:32 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins: 12:45:42 UT
Total Eclipse Begins: 14:06:16 UT
Greatest Eclipse: 14:31:49 UT
Total Eclipse Ends: 14:57:24 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends: 16:17:58 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends: 17:30:00 UT
* Note: Add 8 hours for Singapore time.I only managed to watch the second half of the eclipse from totality till the end of the eclipse. The coppery-red moon was really stunning, and even more so when viewed through a pair of 8x40 binoculars.
Here's my modest attempt at capturing yesterday's total lunar eclipse. The photos were taken from around 10.30pm to 12.30am with my old Canon S2 IS at maximum zoom.
It was a real treat to be able to catch the total lunar eclipse as they do not occur that frequently. A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth casts its shadow onto the Moon. The Sun, Moon and Earth must be perfectly aligned, with Earth in the middle blocking sunlight from striking the Moon. As such, lunar eclipse occurs only on a full moon night.
During a total lunar eclipse, the moon may appear brown, red, orange or yellow due to light being scattered and refracted from Earth’s atmosphere onto the Moon. The colour is affected by the amount of particles such as dust in Earth’s atmosphere – the dustier the atmosphere, the darker the colour of the fully eclipsed moon. You can read more about lunar eclipses here.
The next total lunar eclipse will occur on 15 April 2014, but observers in Singapore will have to be disappointed as it will occur before moonrise during our daylight hours. There is however another total lunar eclipse happening on 8 October 2014 which we may get a partial glimpse of!
Lunar eclipse aside, December is a good month to look out for shooting stars as it is the Geminids meteor shower season. The peak of the shower usually occurs around 13 or 14 December each year. Read more about the Geminids here.
Hoping for clear skies!
