Lunar
Lunar Eclipse - 21st January 2019
The total lunar eclipse ('blood moon') of 21 January 2019, photographed by Pete Lawrence from Northern Ireland, with full timeline.
Target details
A lunar eclipse happens when the Moon passes into Earth's shadow. That needs the Sun, Earth and Moon to line up almost exactly, with Earth in the middle, so it can only happen at full moon. During a total eclipse Earth blocks all direct sunlight. The only light reaching the Moon has been bent through Earth's atmosphere, which scatters away the blue and leaves a red glow – the same reason sunrises and sunsets look red – so a totally eclipsed Moon is often called a 'blood moon'.
On 21st January 2019 the eclipse followed the timeline below:
P1 02:37 Moon enters Earth's penumbral shadow
U1 03:37 First contact with the umbral shadow
U2 04:41 Moon is totally eclipsed
UT 05:12 Greatest Eclipse
U3 05:43 Totality ends
U4 06:51 Last contact with umbral shadow
P4 07:48 Moon leaves penumbral shadow
Capture details
Data captured 04:42, 21st January, 2018.
Single 1 second exposure at ISO400.
Equipment details
Skywatcher Quattro 200 CF
NEQ6 Pro
Nikon d7100
Processing details
This image was processed in Pixinsight & Lightroom.
Histogram Transformation - To stretch the image, 3 small iterations.
Export as JPEG and import into Lightroom.
Increase Contrast (+15)
Reduce Highlights (-25)
Increase Shadows (+25)
Noise Reduction (Luminance) (+25)
Export final JPEG for upload.