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Lunar Eclipse On May 15-16

Posted by timothy on from the mark-your-lunar-calendars dept.

Sayten241 writes "MSNBC reports that on the night of May 15-16 skywatchers in the U.S., Europe and Africa will be able to witness the moon be completely eclipsed by the Earth's shadow. The show starts at 9:45 pm ET but starts getting good around 10:03 pm ET. The next Lunar eclipse will be on Nov 8-9 this year."

4 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. When photographing a lunar eclipse . . . by aoteoroa · · Score: 5, Informative

    remember that you do not need a long exposure time. Of course you will need a really long lens.

    The first time I photographed the moon I tried long exposure times, in the range of 2-8 seconds when the film returned the moon was a bright white blob with no detail. The moon is basically a rock that is being hit by direct sunlight and to get a good exposure you need to expose your film as if you were shooting a snapshot on a bright sunny day.

    One guideline I find helpful is the "Sunny 16 rule": For a subject in direct sunlight set your f-stop to 16, and your shutter speed to closely match the speed of your film. Eg ISO 200 and shutter speed of 1/250.

    1. Re:When photographing a lunar eclipse . . . by PD · · Score: 2, Informative

      Remember that the moon's color is very very dark. It reflects less light than a black chalkboard. Think about how bright it looks, and realize just how bright sunlight is in space.

      I've taken eclipse exposures, and I can concur with the other article. You don't need long exposures, but you do need a nice long lens if you've got it.

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      If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
  2. More Information by FreeMath · · Score: 4, Informative

    More information, including a map of where the eclipse is visible, can be found here
    It also has details for future eclipses.

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    This sig intentionally left blank.
  3. Double exposure by mlush · · Score: 2, Informative
    One guideline I find helpful (for photographing the moon)is the "Sunny 16 rule": For a subject in direct sunlight set your f-stop to 16, and your shutter speed to closely match the speed of your film. Eg ISO 200 and shutter speed of 1/250.

    There is also the loony f4 rule for shooting fullmoon lit landscapes. Set the aperture to f/4 and open the shutter for 1/ASA days. ie 100 speed film =1/100*24*60 ~ 15 minutes. Shoot a landscape 1/3rd + 2/3rds sky without the moon, then double expose with the eclipsed moon somewhere in the sky