The moon had already started the eclipse as it rose from behind the mountain.
I will show you the entire sequence of the total eclipse as it happened.
We had so hoped that it would be a clear sky, but sadly not to be as there was a mist covering the sky. On the day I took a picture of the first morning small cloud that I saw, and during the course of the day that small cloud became a monster that covered the whole sky. The wind was blowing from the West towards the North-East and I, at that stage, had no hope of seeing the total lunar eclipse.
Thankfully, by late afternoon the wind direction had changed, and it started to blow the clouds away, but not totally as a mist stayed behind to cover the sky. Nevertheless, the mist was not dense enough for us not to see the moon. I was not sure where exactly the moon would rise, and so we parked the car in a wide-open area. So, without much further ado, let me show you what we saw.
Ah! It was the first sight that we had of the moon.
A lovely sight of the moon reflected, not in a dam, but instead on my car's roof.
By this time the eclipse was already halfway up on the moon.
The two shots below will show you how the shadow continued to rise up on the moon.
And then it was done, as the moon started to disappear.
But now don't lose hope, as I will show you how the moon emerged from the dark of the eclipse.
Ever so slowly, a ring of white light started to rise from the bottom right of the moon.
The white light gradually increasing to rise on the moon.
And finally the normal moon started to appear with a black cap of the shadow at its left top.
And that was it. The eclipse was done.
The blood moon was widely advertised on the internet, and it was always dependent upon the clarity of the night sky whether we would see it or not. Sadly, the people in the northern hemisphere were not able to see the eclipse as it covered mostly the southern hemisphere. Countries like South Africa, parts of Asia, and many others in the southern hemisphere. There was a lot of dust in the sky, and maybe I should have used the tripod.
My wife reckons that she can see a face on the moon. Look as I might, I cannot see it, but you know that females are always right. Long ago, I went for guitar lessons with Mick. He was one of the guitarists in a South African band called Ballyhoo. And they had a song called, "Man on the Moon". The refrain of the song goes like this..."Man on the moon, can you hear me calling you...". So, maybe, like my wife, they could also see a man on the moon:) Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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