Eclipsing Moon Sets over Garden of the Gods
At 5:00am, I was treated to my first unexpected view of the pre-dawn world. I opened the curtains of my west-facing window, and there was the constellation of Orion setting over Pikes Peak. The three bright stars of Orion’s belt glittered just above Pikes Peak like a crown of diamonds. The bright, very full moon gave no hint of what was to come.
However, by 5:45am, a hazy shadow began to shroud the upper left curve of the moon. My husband and I were now at our viewing location at the entrance to Garden of the Gods Park. We watched in silence as the Earth’s shadow began to cloak the top half of the moon. The December dawn sky presented other treasures. Sirius, the brightest star in our sky, was setting behind the pale saddle of Gray Rock, and the bright stars of Gemini sparkled high overhead.
Eclipsing moon setting before dawn, Garden of the Gods
Just as the top half of the moon was beginning to take on a faint red glow, matching the reddish hues of the towering sandstone rocks of Garden of the Gods, the moon slipped below the mountains of the Rampart Range. In the stillness of dawn, we could hear a great-horned owl hooting in the distance.
Photo Credit: Thanks to my husband Les Goss for capturing this moment.
It’s Midnight and the Moon is Slipping into Earth’s Shadow
To see the moon begin to “disappear” at the exact time forecast is exhilarating. It is 11:33 p.m. (MST), December 20, 2010. Now, it’s 12:06 a.m. and the Earth has cast its shadow over almost half the moon. The shaded lunar surface faintly glows dark, dark red.
In the southern sky, just below the eclipsed moon, is the constellation of Orion. Looking through my binoculars, I observe that Orion’s bright star Betelgeuse, a red giant, is very similar in color to the eclipsed moon.
Partial Lunar Eclipse
It is now 12:51 a.m. and the moon has been totally in Earth’s shadow for 10 minutes. Without its bright white reflected light, the moon looks like the 3-dimensional sphere it actually is, instead of a 2-dimensional circle. It also looks smaller, yet heavier. It looks as if its weight will cause it to fall from the sky, something I’ve never imagined before. The sky has darkened and many stars appear that were invisible in the bright light of the full moon. I see the Seven Sisters and the Twins.
It is a perfect night to view the eclipse from Colorado Springs. Lucky us.
Total Lunar Eclipse by Les Goss
Photo Credit: Thanks to Les Goss, my husband, for both eclipse photos.