Observers Comment on Eclipse: ‘How Tiny We Are’

Many people skipped sleep, or set their alarms, to make sure they were awake to see the lunar eclipse Tuesday morning.

Readers sent in photos from Bondi Beach, Australia, Albuquerque during a partly cloudy night, and the Prospect Park Boat House and elsewhere in New York City.

One reader, Reynardine, chronicled the experience from Volusia County, Fla., over a series of comments:

At this time, shortly after 1 a.m. in Volusia County, Florida, the sky is sharply clear, but the penumbral eclipse is not in evidence, even with strong field glasses. The penumbra must be very faint. I will keep you posted.

1:17 A.M. There appears to be faint dimming, but the moon is still evenly round and its light bright enough to see colors. Probably the “bite from the cookie” won’t show until the umbra encroaches.

1:31 A.M. The penumbral smudge at 10 o’clock on the disk is apparent and the umbra is about to approach.

1:37 A.M. The smudge has spread and the very black umbra has taken its first bite at the 10 o’clock position.

1:45 A.M. The umbra has moved noticeably into the moon. So far, it is coal black. I do not know if the reddish cast will appear at totality or not.

1:57 A.M. The umbra has blacked out one-third of the moon, with no reddish tinge. I finally lined up the cellphone camera lens with the image in the field glass, but it requires a focal length different from my eyes, so no pictures.

2:15 A.M. The moon is more than half gone, and dark red light filtered through our own atmosphere has begun to appear in the umbra.

2:35 A.M. Totality is approaching. Except for a tiny white gem, the moon is an eerie mulberry color. Even King Wenceslaus would call this night cruel, but I am going back out to see totality … and to walk my big flop-eared hunting dog, so I don’t have to do it at daybreak.

2:48 A.M. Totality has arrived. The disk of the moon is still a little brighter at 4 o’clock, but that swarthy garnet umbra covers it all. I am not waiting to see it center, much less for the light to emerge at the other side. This is my last post tonight.