Simply Writing

August 20, 2008

Once in a Black Moon

Filed under: Assorted — solitudewriter @ 12:49 pm
Tags: , , , , , ,

Last Sunday (17 Aug), I was awake till 3 in the morning for some important work. At midnight, I realized that a partial lunar eclipse would occur at around 1. So I went out of my flat to have a glimpse of the rare celestial phenomenon. No one was around, but the street lights were illuminating the locality brilliantly. The air was still, and the ether was filled with clouds. I sighed, “I would not be able to see the eclipse.” Came back to my room and gazed at the computer monitor. At 1:30, I went out again. A drizzle had already started, and it gained momentum every passing minute. “OK, man, pack up,” I told myself. Completed the assignment, shut down the system (real quick this Ubuntu thing is, by the way), made the bed, and settled.

“Wait, why can’t try again,” my conscience persisted. At 2:30, I went out again. The sky remained shrouded, but from a corner of our flat I was able to see a near-total eclipse. The moon within the umbra was morbidly fascinating. A cloud hiding the moon is an everyday phenomenon, but the Earth shadowing the moon? Wow! I have seen total solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. But this was special. Nobody was around, it was well past midnight, and it was almost raining. Surrealistic, isn’t it? I tried capturing it with my Canon 7.1 mp digicam, and the shot was OK. (Please click the image to view its full size. The moon looks like a peanut up in the pitch black night sky :) )

Total Lunar Eclipse

Total Lunar Eclipse

Blog at WordPress.com.