Just saw the penumbral lunar eclipse. Not exactly knock-your-socks-off
spectacular, but it was still satisfying to have seen it.
I was sitting here in my living room, all of the parts of my M603 maksutov
strewn about on the coffee table, when I looked up at the clock and
realized that it was just about time for maximum eclipse. I grabbed some
binos, stepped out onto the back porch, and took a gander at the Moon. Both
the naked-eye view and the 9x63 bino view showed a slight darkening on the
northwestern limb. The highland areas north and northwest of Mare Frigoris
looked slightly darker than usual, almost a 'dirty' look, like slightly
dusty or slightly sooty snow. The southeastern limb, beyond Tycho, looked
as bright as ever.
Clouds covered the moon, I came back inside, and now I realize how tired I
am.
Marek Cichanski
Received on Sun Apr 24 03:02:45 2005