I'll just say here I'm really bummed because the time reported on thejournal.ie said the eclipse was to start was 3:11am! I thought I was early. They meant to report 2:11am!
According to those in the know, the last lunar eclipse was on 20 Dec 2010. It was earlier in the evening and we did have partial clearing to view it, but of course, I had a basic digital camera and the images didn't come out well, so I'm not sharing them here ;-)
The previous lunar eclipse I remember was on 16 Sept 1997. It was my first trip to Ireland, I was here for six months and heading toward my last month here before going home to California. I remember listening to the birds awaken in the full moon's glow, then quieting during the eclipse, then rousing again when the moon came out again.
Similarly last night, standing in the back garden with my camera on a tripod and me snapping a few photos as Earth's shadow passing over the moon, I heard gulls down in the dunes behind our house, rousing in the early morning light of the full moon, then settling as the moon was in full eclipse, then rousing again when the moon brightened the sky...and sunrise shortly after 6am when the eclipse was all said and done.
So, what's with full moons and eclipses? We had 12 to 13 full moons per year, but we don't always have full eclipses. We do have some interesting names for full moons though:
Harvest Moon
Huntsman's or Hunter's Moons
Blue Moon
Milk Moon
Wolf's Moon
Snow Moon
Hunger Moon
Long Night's Moon
Cold Moon
And dozens of others. Including Super Moon and Blood Moon, and of course, the Super Blood Moon.
A super moon is when the full moon appears closer than normal.
The term blood moon is recent reference. No one knows who first coined the term or the meaning. Some think it's religious, and some think it's simply due to the red color the moon turns after the first cycle of the eclipse when the moon is in full shadow.
And when you have a full moon eclipse that happens during the super moon cycle, and the moon turns a deep red color, it becomes a super blood moons. The last super moon eclipse was in 1982 but, to my knowledge, the moon didn't turn red. And if it did, the term blood moon hadn't been used then.
How rare is a supermoon total lunar eclipse?
Total lunar eclipses that coincide with a supermoon are quite rare. Since 1900, there have been just five — on 17 November 1910, 27 November 1928, 8 December 1946, 19 December 1964 and 30 December 1982 (all dates UT). If you get clouded out for this month’s totally eclipsed supermoon, then you will have to wait until 8 October 2033 for the next!
For those of you who follow astronomy, you might be interested in some information about the full moon tetrad...a set of four total lunar eclipses within two years.
And for those who follow religious prophesy, this blood moon was the fourth in the Biblical predicted End Times, aka End of Days, or the Blood Moon Prophesy. You can read up here about that!
You can decide for yourself what this means, but for me, this was just a super cool phenomenon. This is why I set my alarm for 2:50am. And now I'm happy to share some of the better shots.
I'm not a brilliant photographer; I still have yet to really get into the workings of my 'new' Canon Powershot SX60 HR. But as you've seen in previous photos, I've taken some decent shots of the moon with this camera, and with last night's eclipse, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for more interesting shots. I hope you enjoy them.
 |
| Full moon - 27 Sept 2015 hours before the eclipse |
 |
| As above, national media got the time wrong, so I didn't capture the start of the cycle. This is around 3:15am, just before full eclipse. |
 |
| Turning red |
 |
| Turning red |
 |
| Blood Moon |
 |
| Blood Moon |
 |
| Coming out of eclipse |
 |
| Coming out of eclipse |
 |
| 6am and back to the full moon Take note of the first full moon picture and this one. The aspect has shifted clockwise by 35 degrees! |
MONEY SHOT!
 |
| Here's the 'Money Shot' Discovering this photo was the cherry on the sundae. I captured the silhouette of a jumbo jet just as it was passing the moon. I wonder if the passengers saw the eclipse from their seats. |
