A lunar eclipse occurs whenever the Moon passes through some portion of the Earth's shadow. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, there is always a full moon the night of a lunar eclipse. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes. The next total lunar eclipse occurs on December 21, 2010. The next eclipse of the Moon is a penumbral eclipse on February 9, 2009. - Wikipedia
A penumbral eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's penumbra. The penumbra does not cause any noticeable darkening of the Moon's surface, though some may argue it turns a little yellow. A special type of penumbral eclipse is a total penumbral eclipse, during which the Moon lies exclusively within the Earth's penumbra. Total penumbral eclipses are rare, and when these occur, that portion of the Moon which is closest to the umbra can appear somewhat darker than the rest of the Moon. - Wikipedia
I got a text from my friend Jonel of Letsgosago.net and he just informed me about this lunar eclipse happening this evening February 9, 2009. I received the message at nearly 7:00pm and he said that the moon is full, glowing so bright and in appears to be big again. As I went to the bridgeway of SM Mall of Asia, coming from SMX, I got surprised to see the size of the full moon. I began to take photos using my Olympus SP 500UZ, but I failed to capture its beauty because I forgot my settings on taking photos of a bright object, just like the moon.
Then I went home and race against time, because the penumbra lunar eclipse will begin at 8:00pm til midnight. But as soon as I arrived home, I got a little disappointed in seeing a big cloud formation cover the entire view of the moon. Then I waited for a few minutes and went outside to check it out, then I saw a big hole opening in the clouds, and then I smiled to see the moon in the big cloud hole. I'm happy that the celestial body and elementals are cooperating well.
It was 9:00pm here in Bacoor, Cavite ( well an hour drive to Manila), and This is some of my best photos of it at that time till 10PM. I didn't catcht the good part due to massive clouds covering the face of the moon. I'm not really sure if I captured the Earth's shadow, but I may leave it to the expert in analyzing it.
If you have photos or blog entry about the Lunar eclipse, feel free to share it by posting it in our comments board below.
more photos in my album at Penumbra Lunar Eclipse ( February 9, 2009) ( Manila, Philippines)
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