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It's Spring 2025, the days are getting longer, the sun is getting higher and with the daily increase in solar insolation I've been looking forward to warmer days and the first thunderstorms of the approaching chase season. At the time of writing Spring in N. Ireland has been fairly quiet with little in the way of sky happenings with the exception of the nightly monitoring of recurrent Nova TCrB as we wait for it to erupt anytime soon, perhaps taking us by surprise, however more on this famous star another time.
It looked like this uneventful period would be broken by two eclipses on March 14th and March 29th, the first being a total lunar eclipse and the second a deep partial solar eclipse, two within the same month. These would be transient events I very much wanted to see. The total lunar eclipse predicted for March 14th across Ireland looked good however the viewing prospects wouldn't be as favourable as for those in the USA. The reason why we were at a slight disadvantage was simple, the eclipse would take place during the pre-dawn hours with totality or maximum eclipse occurring after moonset, however I considered this interesting in itself. Of course there was the usual misinformed media hype miss leading the public about the 'blood red moon eclipse' and other headlines in the same vain which would drastically alter the expectations for many.
During a total lunar eclipse the moon often does turn red, or at least red to some degree, this can be fairly bright or dark, however this red moon is only best seen when the fully eclipsed moon was well placed in the sky, as a result the background sky would turn dark increasing contrast allowing this affect to be seen with ease. The March 14th eclipse would be more challenging with the deepest part of the eclipse happening in bright twilight, and hence less contrast, but also the full eclipse would be after moonset when we couldn't see the full affects at all. I was mentally prepared for this scenario and managed my expectations accordingly.
With this in mind I was moderately excited to take a look with the hope of getting a few images, after all, this event would break the current quiet spell which I hoped would be a good omen for more sky events in the near future. The first 'bite' from the lunar disk would take place around 05.09 LT so an early morning alarm call would be required, but all this meant very little if the weather wasn't on my side. I checked the models the night before, they didn't look encouraging with a weak front of rain from the N with lagging mid level cloud in it's wake which seemed to sit over the Sperrins, the far NW and N looked better. However models aren't 100% perfect and the moon might be glimpsed through breaks in the cloud so I decided to give it a go anyway, but I will admit my expectations of seeing anything were now very low.
At 04.00 LT my dog Rhua woke me up so I went outside to check the sky, it was overcast with altocumulus however I did glimpse the moon a few times, I accepted that would be the likely scenario for the event, I went back to bed. My alarm went off at 04.50 LT, I changed, opened the back door and stepped outside, I was astonished. The sky was 100% clear and perfect, not a cloud in sight, I couldn't believe it, the moon was up in the west and blazing full however it wouldn't be staying that way for long thanks to Newton's laws of gravity and orbital mechanics. The unseen dark shadow of the Earth in space would soon be moving across the lunar disk, it was time to get ready.
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I set up my Canon 5D Mark IV with 100-400mm lens on the grass in the front garden, the blades of grass were covered in a very light frost, the night was calm, silent and cool. At 05.10 LT I spotted the first bite from the lunar disk, the eclipse was underway, this was the darkest part of the Earth's shadow called the Umbra. If you look at your own shadow on a sunny day you will notice it has a darkness surrounded by a faint diffuse less dark exterior, this is the penumbra and the Earth's shadow is no different. Penumbral eclipses are much more subtle with a light shading visible on the disk which most people wouldn't notice so those eclipses are uneventful. It's the umbral lunar eclipses which really get our attention when the dark core of the shadow appears greatly reducing the glare of the full moon, tonight was one such eclipse. The Earth's shadow seemed to move across the moon quite swiftly, noticeable advancements seemed obvious to the eye within minutes. First image showing the Umbra already altering the round appearance of the moon which now took on a slight pac man profile.
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By 05.30 I had already noticed a change in the night sky, it was definitely darker, I could see more stars and through the 10x42mm binoculars the TCrB field was much better defined, I also took a look at M13 and M92. This darker sky would very soon be off-set by the approaching dawn so I went back to imaging the eclipse. The 5D Mark IV has great dynamic range and resolution but since it's full frame the moon looked small, even when cropped, so I instead grabbed my old Canon 600D crop sensor for better view. The resolution would be much less but I could capture the moon much closer for more dramatic images. By this time the moon was dropping lower in the west and eventually was lost from view behind the neighbour's roof tops so I grabbed the camera and walked to the end of the road which provided me with a much better view of the sky.
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The eclipse was now well advanced and getting more and more gorgeous by the minute. To the naked eye it looked like the moon was getting erased from the sky, the Umbral shadow was so dark, I could see subtle red shading with the naked eye. This was the really photogenic stage so I needed to change my approach regarding my settings, if I kept shooting the way I was I would just be getting a dim moon which seemed to be waning in phase, I wanted to see all that gorgeous red within the Umbra. The only way to do that was to shoot a slower shutter speed and/or higher ISO to expose the darkness and reveal the Earth's shadow along with lunar terrain such as the Mare. In simple terms this means deliberately overexposing the sunlit portion and this is what I did for the remainder of the eclipse. I framed the eclipsed moon with tree branches and ended up getting images I was happy with.
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It was really cold before dawn, my breath turned to a milky cloud and my hands were freezing from touching the metal lens, a frost was visible on car windows nearby. I alternated between taking images and observing with the binoculars. I have to say the visual view in the binoculars was breathtaking!, the moon was red, beautiful and mysterious, several stars where visible near the moon in the brightening sky, and all of this visible against a dark blue canvas of morning twilight. These binoculars provided the sharpest and cleanest views I've ever experienced which added to the experience.
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I couldn't believe it was still clear, it felt like a miracle, I had forgotten all about the cold as I savored every second of the eclipse. You know what made this experience all the more special?, the silence, not a breath of wind, then the birds began to stir from their slumber, first with a few random chirps, then a background of soft avian chatter which began to increase in volume. The dawn chorus provided the soundtrack to this lovely tranquil visual experience.
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The moon was so low it would soon be lost behind trees as it approached the horizon. Dawn was near, however the Earth's shadow was still marching across the lunar disk, the eclipse was even deeper and darker. To the naked eye it looked like a thick crescent moon, this was really cool because I know it was a full moon. If anyone had been up early looking to the west with no sky knowledge they would be forgiven for thinking it was a normal crescent moon, however if they did know their sky they would have noted the 'waxing crescent' was at the wrong orientation, the sun angle was entirely wrong. As this 'crescent moon' sank into thicker atmosphere it look on a yellow-golden colour, the dark Umbra was barely visible however it was still gorgeous, red, and over 70% complete in the binoculars.
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This would be as much of the eclipse as I would get, the moon was dark, low in contrast and getting washed out by the light of dawn and greatly dimmed by atmospheric extinction. This was my final image, I took one last look in the binoculars, the birds were singing loudly and behind me the eastern sky had a bright yellow-orange glow and the stars were gone. The sun would soon be rising just as the moon set which only happens during a full moon. I felt gratitude that I had great fortune with the weather and that I got to enjoy yet another lunar eclipse. I wondered would the weather be so cooperative for the solar eclipse later in the month.
I did film several short video sequences of the eclipse which I honestly was going to delete, however I decided to keep them for the memories. Excuse the digital noise, towards the end you can see the red Umbra but more importantly you can hear the atmospheric dawn chorus which complimented the eclipse. Thanks very much for reading.
Martin McKenna
