Lunar Eclipse - Info on the 11/18-19/2021 Event

[JimFox]

There is going to be an “almost” total eclipse tonight. Depending on where you are it will start tonight on the 18th and end early morning on the 19th.

It will be about as complete as you can get without being complete. There will be just a sliver of an edge not covered.

Last year I just mounted my camera and long lens on a tripod and would just adjust it every 10 minutes or so. I might use my Astro tracker tonight, but you don’t need one to capture this.

I found a chart that I hope is accurate, and will help you plan out your evening.

I hope we get a bunch of you out capturing this fun event.

 

[BlackRockArt]

There is going to be an “almost” total eclipse tonight. Depending on where you are it will start tonight on the 18th and end early morning on the 19th.

It will be about as complete as you can get without being complete. There will be just a sliver of an edge not covered.

Last year I just mounted my camera and long lens on a tripod and would just adjust it every 10 minutes or so. I might use my Astro tracker tonight, but you don’t need one to capture this.

I found a chart that I hope is accurate, and will help you plan out your evening.

I hope we get a bunch of you out capturing this fun event.

View attachment 44378

Jim, from my experience, near the maximum eclipse, the night sky is extremely dark, I plan to try my iOption with sky guider.

Oliver

 

[JimFox]

Yep, the range of exposure is crazy from when the moon is lit to when it’s almost eclipsed. It gets very dark.

I have mine set in Spot metering and Aperture priorty. I am hoping the exposure will change okay that way. Once it starts getting darker I may switch to Shutter Priority so I can keep a consistent time between shots as I hope I can do a Timelapse.

I do have mine set up on the Skyguider Pro. But I could only roughly Polar Align as I am out in my front yard in SoCal…. Bad light pollution of course but I have trees blocking my view to the north. Right now I am centering the moon about every 15 to 20 minutes. It’s tracking okay, but it’s very slightly moving off center on me. It is better then no tracking at all.

How is your tracking going?

 

[JimFox]

Hey Oliver.... well... you won't believe this, but I was actually out totally set up and shooting the moon tonight, until about midnight when I started scratching my head as to why the eclipse hadn't started yet... the moon still looked the same... I know I had checked the date, time everything. But one look at my phone to double check the time and I saw it was about 12:10am, then I looked at the date and it said the 18th.... and I am like wait a minute, the eclipse starts at 11pm on the West coast on the 18th... how could my phone say that it is now just the 18th.... that meant when I started it was the 17th...

I totally don't know if there was a secret Leap Year day added in here in November or what... But here I am 15 minutes later and all my gear is back in my house. I only got slightly wet from the sprinklers, so I am not too worse for wear. Oh well... a nice trial run I guess.

But now I have a dilemma. Thursday night, which I now discovered is the 18th and the start of the Lunar Eclipse will find me at Knotts Berry Farm from 7 to 11pm as they have a special evening for Annual Passholders for the start of their Christmas season. I have a date who might not be too happy if I ditch her last minute. So I need to figure out how I am going to pull this off now...

 

[dan swiger]

Hey Oliver.... well... you won't believe this, but I was actually out totally set up and shooting the moon tonight, until about midnight when I started scratching my head as to why the eclipse hadn't started yet... the moon still looked the same... I know I had checked the date, time everything. But one look at my phone to double check the time and I saw it was about 12:10am, then I looked at the date and it said the 18th.... and I am like wait a minute, the eclipse starts at 11pm on the West coast on the 18th... how could my phone say that it is now just the 18th.... that meant when I started it was the 17th...

I totally don't know if there was a secret Leap Year day added in here in November or what... But here I am 15 minutes later and all my gear is back in my house. I only got slightly wet from the sprinklers, so I am not too worse for wear. Oh well... a nice trial run I guess.

But now I have a dilemma. Thursday night, which I now discovered is the 18th and the start of the Lunar Eclipse will find me at Knotts Berry Farm from 7 to 11pm as they have a special evening for Annual Passholders for the start of their Christmas season. I have a date who might not be too happy if I ditch her last minute. So I need to figure out how I am going to pull this off now...

Hey, Jim, simple! Just tell your date that part of the surprise is watching the moon eclipse!

 

[BlackRockArt]

Well, Jim, I am sorry you ... wait, I had to double-check my calendar! You gave me a jolt, I thought I missed it for a moment. Worry not, you can still get most of the eclipse after 11:00 pm, this is a really LONG eclipse.

Oliver

 

[JimFox]

Hey, Jim, simple! Just tell your date that part of the surprise is watching the moon eclipse!

Ha ha, so true!

I am trying to see just how big of a lens I can take with me into Knotts…

 

[JimFox]

Well, Jim, I am sorry you ... wait, I had to double-check my calendar! You gave me a jolt, I thought I missed it for a moment. Worry not, you can still get most of the eclipse after 11:00 pm, this is a really LONG eclipse.

Oliver

Thanks Oliver.

My hope was to get from beginning to end in a Timelapse for my YouTube channel. My biggest hits on the channel are my night time Timelapses.

Checking the weather, I may not even be able to see it tonight, so it could all be mute. Joshua Tree could be an option as it’s a 2 hour drive. It has a forecast for some night time clouds. Better then all clouds.

So I may be relying on you so I can see it. Hopefully you have clear skies.

 

[BlackRockArt]

Thanks Oliver.

My hope was to get from beginning to end in a Timelapse for my YouTube channel. My biggest hits on the channel are my night time Timelapses.

Checking the weather, I may not even be able to see it tonight, so it could all be mute. Joshua Tree could be an option as it’s a 2 hour drive. It has a forecast for some night time clouds. Better then all clouds.

So I may be relying on you so I can see it. Hopefully you have clear skies.

Jim, the whole of Northern California is gonna be a washout, the rain starts after midnight all the way till 8:00 am Friday morning.





Oliver

 

[JimFox]

Jim, the whole of Northern California is gonna be a washout, the rain starts after midnight all the way till 8:00 am Friday morning.





Oliver

Well… I guess we both could literally be in the same boat…

 

[JimFox]

Hey Oliver, it's 7:45pm here and the clouds have disappeared. No telling if it will remain clear, but I have a chance. I just need to sneak out of Knotts Berry before 11pm when it closes.

 

[BlackRockArt]

Jim, it's gonna be tough: both high clouds & low clouds are coming in around 11:00pm, it's quite significant amount too： 2000 ft in between.

Good luck

Oliver

 

[JimFox]

Jim, it's gonna be tough: both high clouds & low clouds are coming in around 11:00pm, it's quite significant amount too： 2000 ft in between.

Good luck

Oliver

That is tough. So far clear here. Just finished a late free dinner here at Knotts.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

No such luck here in the PNW. Clouds and rain.

 

[JimFox]

No such luck here in the PNW. Clouds and rain.

Oh no! Sorry to hear that.

 

[JimFox]

I got back in time to set up my gear. I was shooting it until just now, but the thin layer of clouds I could shoot through turned thick snd the moon disappeared. It was at about 20 to 25% eclipsed when it disappeared.

I am still shooting with my camera on tirmelapse. But it’s just a dark gray screen now. The SkyGuider pro is aimed to the north as I can’t see Polaris, but it’s kind of tracking with the moon, or it was until it disappeared,

I will just sit out here in my lawn chair and munch on some popcorn while hoping the clouds will break up.

 

[Bob Israel]

I had to scramble since I woke up late and did NOT set up the night before (just forgetful and lazy). But I managed to get this shot at peak eclipse here in Minnesota.

 

[BlackRockArt]

I had to scramble since I woke up late and did NOT set up the night before (just forgetful and lazy). But I managed to get this shot at peak eclipse here in Minnesota.

View attachment 44455

Bob, this is simply gorgeous. Was this tracked?

Oliver

 

[Bob Israel]

Bob, this is simply gorgeous. Was this tracked?

Oliver

Thanks Oliver and no, it was not tracked. I just balanced my ISO settings with a reasonable quick shutter speed.