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Timelapse Video of the Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse

by December 21, 2010 10 Comments

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.

If it was cloudy where you live last night -- or you just slept through the alarm you had set to wake you for the lunar eclipse -- this time lapse video will show you what you missed. These photos of the Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse were taken on December 21, 2010 between 1:10 AM EST (6:10 GMT) and 5:03 AM EST (10:03 GMT) by William Castleman from Gainesville, Florida. The music is Claude Debussy Nocturnes: Sirènes. Beautiful!

As to why the moon appeared red, Dr. Tony Philips writes on NASA Science News:

A quick trip to the Moon provides the answer: Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth, nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is underway. You might expect Earth seen in this way to be utterly dark, but it's not. The rim of the planet is on fire! As you scan your eye around Earth's circumference, you're seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once. This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb.

Listen to Science Friday's discussion about the lunar eclipse here. (Audio player on upper left)

    

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  • http://thefuture.chatterbucket.net/ Ben C

    Really beautiful footage. Thank you so much--it was cloudy here in Phoenix (for once) and I slept in. :)

  • Sue Y

    Thank you!! I was not looking, but judging by the weather, this was likely not nearly as visible here in Antigonish

  • Diana L

    Thanks so much for this....those of us in soggy so. CA definitely appreciate it. I have posted the link to my facebook page :-)

  • http://thecapitall.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/the-five-minute-post/ The Five Minute Post « The Capital L

    [...] morning I am watching this – it was much too cloudy last night to see it from Utah, but that did not stop CK from [...]

  • Caranina

    REALLY GOOD photography, and thanks--I didn't get to see it in a cloud-covered sky here! :)

  • Eric

    Thanks for posting this, but I see only a still image, no video (neither can I see the audio player mentioned above the sharing links).
    Firefox 3.6.13 on Windows 7.
    Eric M.

  • Leslie Taylor

    Hi Eric, I'm not sure why the video isn't playing for you but you can try watching at http://vimeo.com/18046748

    On the Science Friday Web page, the media player is at the top of the left hand column, immediately to the left of the title of the segment: Lunar Eclipse Outlook. The play button is below the word "Listen" which is written in maroon.

    -Leslie

  • http://sundayartist.wordpress.com Michele

    Thank you for this compressed eclipse experience!
    (It was cloudy this night in Mississauga, Ontario, and the sky cleared out in the morning :^(

    But I had the chance to observe other lunar eclipse, and the red glow is always breathtaking. :^)

  • Larty Cravetz

    Thank you for that truly spectacular video! The sound attached went magnificently as well! I fell asleep early the evening, as I often do (one of the joys of having M.S., but through the joy of the InterWeb still got to see the eclipse! Thank you thank you thank you!!

  • http://notyetready Thomas M. James

    You put science in front of my face so I say you did very good