About Last Night's Supermoon...

Well, I missed last night's supermoon.

We had heavy cloud cover, along with some downpours, which we need. Therefore, the moon was obscured.

I've seen others (if you've seen one, you've seen them all) before. One thing though, a couple of nights ago, the moonlight shined in my bedroom window and it was pretty bright. 

Here's one supermoon from March 2020:

Supermoon 2

With the moon a bit higher in the sky, I went out and took some more photos. Again, I did some experimenting with the settings. It was a lot easier to take moon photos with film cameras because you can play with the manual settings.

Here's the best of the bunch:

Supermoon

As tonight's supermoon was rising, I went outside with my zoom lens.

Unfortunately, there was some cloud cover where the moon was rising. But I did manage to get a few shots. I experimented with different settings.

I'll try to get more shots as the moon gets above the cloud cover.

Supermoon Tonight

Above, a supermoon shot from Abilene, Kansas. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

We're in for a treat tonight!

We'll be having a supermoon tonight.

According to Fox News:

Skywatchers are in for a treat next week when the full worm supermoon rises in the sky. 

“March’s full Moon, called the full Worm Moon, reaches peak fullness at 1:48 p.m. EDT on Monday, March 9,” explains the Old Farmer’s Almanac. “Look for the spectacularly bright Moon as it rises above the horizon that evening!” 

The celestial event will be the first of three supermoons in 2020, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. EarthSky notes that the full worm moon will be the second-closest of the year’s supermoons.

To read more, go here.

Morning Moon

Above, the supermoon this morning. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last night's "blood moon" from the lunar eclipse wasn't too visible due to the cloud cover we had. During totality, it wasn't really anything more than a smudge in the sky.

This morning, even though it was still cloudy out, the supermoon shined brightly above the western horizon. 

Lunar Eclipse Has Started

Tonight's lunar eclipse has started.

Unfortunately, we have cloudy/hazy skies, which aren't optimum conditions for observing it.

I did take a few photographs and the one below is the best of the bunch:

Lunar Eclipse Tonight

Above, a start of a lunar eclipse in 2014. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Tonight, provided the skies are clear, we will be treated to a lunar eclipse. This is when a full moon is in the Earth's shadow and appears reddish in hue.

According to the Associated Press:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Here comes a total lunar eclipse and supermoon, all wrapped into one. 

The moon, Earth and sun will line up this weekend for the only total lunar eclipse this year and next. At the same time, the moon will be ever so closer to Earth and appear slightly bigger and brighter than usual — a supermoon. 

“This one is particularly good,” said Rice University astrophysicist Patrick Hartigan. “It not only is a supermoon and it’s a total eclipse, but the total eclipse also lasts pretty long. It’s about an hour.”

The whole eclipse starts Sunday night or early Monday, depending on location , and will take about three hours. 

It begins with the partial phase around 10:34 p.m. EST Sunday. That’s when Earth’s shadow will begin to nip at the moon. Totality — when Earth’s shadow completely blankets the moon — will last 62 minutes, beginning at 11:41 p.m. EST Sunday.

Since I am in the Mountain Time Zone, it should begin here around 8:34 p.m.

To read more, go here. 

The Super Moon

Tonight, I managed to get some shots of the super moon.

Cloud cover was beginning to come over the area, so I hurried up and took a few photos.

Here two of the better ones:

Supermoon Over Burbank

The moon does look larger. Unlike last night, the sky is quite a bit clearer. There is some haze, but at least the moon can be clearly seen.

Some photos:

Above, the moon over Burbank. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the moon still over Burbank. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, no details, but the moon is sharply round. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Not So Supermoon Tonight

There's to be a supermoon this weekend. In the San Fernando Valley tonight, I took the above photo. Unfortunately, we have some cloud cover.

But, according to media reports, the supermoon will be at its peak tomorrow night.

What's a supermoon?

According to Wikipedia:

A supermoon is the coincidence of a full moon or a new moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth. 

We'll see how clear the skies are tomorrow night for some hopefully better photos.