Lunar Eclipse, Dec 10, 2011: Total cooperation of weather and horizon

The weather cooperated and my sliver-sized view of the horizon was ideally placed on the morning of Dec. 10, 2011 to give me an excellent view of the lunar eclipse. From my location, the moon set while totally eclipsed. Consequently, the sun rose as the eclipsed moon set.

Above: Field of view looking west. This photo was taken after the eclipse

and after moonset to show my well-paced field of view.

Above: Partially eclipsed moon photographed at 5:52 PST.

At this time, the pending sunrise was not yet evident.

Above: 6:00 PST and the moon is nearly eclipsed.

A few tree twigs cloud the picture.

The eclipsed moon at 6:10 PST.

Above: (6:23 AM) The fully eclipsed moon as dawn washed it out of the sky.

Though visible in the photograph, at this point is was invisible to the naked eye.

The first photo was taken with a digital SLR camera with an 18 mm lens. All other photos were taken with a 3-inch refactor at prime focus.

jg