Astronomy

The total (or almost total) lunar eclipse on the morning of April 4 was both exciting and disappointing as seen from my home in Minnesota. I thought it would be especially cool to have totality so close to sunrise and moonset, and looked forward to taking photographs that would also include foreground objects. I didn't think about the fact that the increasing brightness of morning twilight would reduce the contrast between the eclipsed moon and the sky, making the coppery red color less prominent. Actually, as the eclipse approached totality the moon disappeared entirely! Here are a few of my photographs. They show the eclipsed part of the moon more clearly than I could see with my naked eye. While the sky was still dark Sky brightens as dawn approaches Reddish eclipsed part is hard to see Moon sinks down towards Lake Independence, Baker Park Preserve The moon is disappearing!