Lunar Eclipse from Abu Dhabi.

Wednesday 15 June 2011 saw a total lunar eclipse although once totality had begun I didn't hang around for too long to see everything in reverse. I had seen one other such eclipse from Brisbane in 1988 but this one was not as good. There are very good reasons for that.

Atmospheric conditions play an important part in any astronomical observation. A dark, clear, cold stable atmosphere is what is needed in order to get good images of the stars and moon etc.

The park at the edge of the city on a humid night, 28 -30°C where the heat haze during the day extending into the night meant that few stars were visible. This did not go well for photos I consider to be good ones of an eclipse.

However the following photos are the best under the circumstances. I will add some photography notes shortly to explain how I managed to get these photos.

9.03pm The full moon before the eclipse started.
(Shot details: f/9,  ¹/₃₂₀ s, ISO-200)



9.38pm. Another full moon shot
(Shot details: f/10,  ¹/₄₀₀ s, ISO-200)

All photos were taken with a Canon 450D using a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS USM lens at 300mm.  The camera was mounted on a tripod with a remote release and mirror lock up in use. Some test shots were initially taken and then manual mode used for all exposures. As the moon entered the earth's shadow, I had to push the ISO up to 800 because the lens at 300mm only allows a maximum aperture of f/5.6.

The custom lens hood was vital in keeping out light spill from the city.
           
All these images are crops from the original where the moon was about 2.5 cm wide on the screen.



10.22pm. The earth's shadow starting to become noticeable.
(Shot details: f/10,  ¹/₅₀₀ s, ISO-200)



10.53pm
(Shot details:f/10,  ¹/₃₂₀ s, ISO-200)



11.08pm
(Shot details: f/9,  ¹/₁₂₅ s, ISO-200)

11.23pm
(Shot details: f/5.6,  ¹/₁₃ s, ISO-800)

A change of tactics here when I opened up the exposure to show some of the detail to the moon which is now mostly in the earth's shadow.  This one is quite interesting because it shows part of the moon outside the shadow, the middle is in the penumbra whilst the umbra, complete darkness, is starting to show its presence. Wikipedia has some good diagrams to show what this all means.

One of the advantages of using manual mode is that you can play around with exposures to get the best effect. In most of these shots I also did auto-exposure bracketing (the AEB function) and selected the best image to use here. As you can see I have pushed the ISO out to 800 with the result that images larger than those on screen here show quite a lot of noise. This is a compromise with the lens open at f/5.6 (it maximum at 300mm), and a shutter speed fast enough not to show any apparent movement of the moon across the image.

Another advantage of the DSLR is that you can play around with the settings to find out what works best. This type of eclipse lasts for many hours so you have time to experiment.

11.29pm Sunlight just touching the edge, top right.
(Shot details: f/5.6,  ¹/₆ s, ISO-800)

11.32pm. The moon is now completely in the earth's shadow.
(Shot details: f/5.6,  ¹/₅ s, ISO-800)

Even though the moon passes into the earth's shadow it is still visible. The lovely coppery coloured glow is due to light being reflected off the earth onto the moon and back again. You also get some refraction through the atmosphere as well.

To get some really great photos of the moon, a much longer focal length lens is needed as well a wider maximum aperture than f/5.6. Of course a properly telescope mounted camera which could follow the moon and ideal atmospheric conditions help enormously as well.

My main aim was to see how far I could push the camera and lens. I am quite happy with results here.

Do not try this with solar eclipses!