Total Lunar Eclipse - August 28, 2007
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This is the first lunar eclipse that I shot at high-resolution digitally. I am quite pleased with the results.
The eclipse took place on the morning of August 28 (for those of us in the US). It started at 1:55 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time, and it lasted until 7:25 (6.5 hours!). Unfortunately (in terms of getting a complete sequence), the moon set behind the mountains as seen in Boulder at about 5:40 AM. So while I didn't get a complete sequence, I did get a few pretty neat shots of it setting behind the mountains.
You may notice the first few images look nearly identical. This is because they are part of the penumbral eclipse, which is equivalent to a partial solar eclipse if Earth and the Moon were switched. This means that there is only a very subtle shading difference.
This is also my first lunar sequence that I processed in full 16-bit color in completely non-destructive editing (thank you, PhotoShop CS3). It is also the first where I took multiple exposures each time in order to combine them to get a clearer picture (technically known as better signal-to-noise).
Technical Information |
|
| Object | Lunar Eclipse |
| Date & Time | August 28, 2007; 1:55 A.M. - 5:40 A.M. |
| Location | SBO Telescope at CU Boulder |
| Optics | 1000 mm f/16 camera lens |
| Camera | Canon Digital Rebel 350D XT |
| Exposure Details | Between 1/125-sec and 75 seconds; ISO 100 |
| Optical Correction | No Dark- nor Flatframe-Correction |
| Camera Position | Normal Camera Lens |
| Guiding | Piggybacked on 18" telescope that used a Passive Clock Drive on Equatorial Mount |
| Processing Details | Images were uniformly processed in Adobe Camera Raw for true color. Multiple exposures were median-combined in Adobe PhotoShop, then Levels- and Curves-adjusted. |
| Image Size | Each moon is ~1/2°. |
| Magnitude Depth | N/A (moon varied by over a factor of 20,000 in brightness) |
| Notes | My first full-RAW and -16-bit processing of the moon. My first eclipse with prosumer-level equipment. |