Moon in Eclipse
The 91% eclipsed moon on March 23-24, 1997. Had I known
that a partial lunar eclipse could be so beautiful, I would
have roused my friends and made a big deal of it. More people would
seen the Moon turn to embers beneath Mars, beneath Leo. As it is,
I watched this restlessly in my backyard, hovering at the eyepiece
of the 5-inch refractor while the Moon faded, reddened, and
began to glow softly among the stars of Virgo. Here are all the
sunsets and sunrises of Earth, brought together. Photographed on Fuji
HG-400, 15 seconds through a 5-inch AP @ F4.5.
Hale-Bopp in the Evening Sky
In the eastern United States, the eclipse came too late to
darken the sky before Hale-Bopp set. Here is the comet awash in a
sky made blue by the light of the Moon. 5-inch AP, F4.5, 60
seconds on HG-400.