10 Dec 2011 ~ Lunar Eclipse

Listening to: Alyssa Graham ~ Watching the Sky (Lock, Stock, and Soul album)

I know is might seem rigged, but honestly that is the song that came on as I sat down to write this blog, which is about the lunar eclipse that I got to experience.

The timing was perfect here as the eclipse occurred between 10:06 pm and 10:58 pm.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon enters the earth's shadow. This shadow has two parts: the total shadow called the umbra and the partial shadow termed the penumbra. This diagram is courtesy of the Hong Kong Observatory.

I had a great view from my terrace so set up an observatory deck around 8:30pm, when the moon was between penumbra and umbra.

I thought I brought my tripod, but alas could not find it, so these pictures did not turn out as well as they could have.

During totality, the moon is not completely invisible. This is due to the fact that some sunlight is refracted by the earth's thin atmosphere into the umbra and illuminates the moon, making it coppery-red in colour. 

This is the official HK Observatory Picture:

The next lunar eclipse potentially observable in Hong Kong will occur on June 4, 2012, which will be a partial eclipse. Also in 2012, an annular solar eclipse will be potentially observable in Hong Kong on May 21, and a transit of Venus on June 6. Both are rare astronomical phenomena.