*Belts out* There’s nothing I can do, the Total Eclipse of the Heaaarrrrttt…
No, no, I’m not gonna go retro or new wave on you today. Geez, I don’t even know who sang that song! Haha. Clearly wasn’t my generation.
Photo taken from http://www.solarviews.com/browse/moon/2004lunareclipse.jpg
So today we anticipated the Total Lunar Eclipse that was (supposed to be) totally viewable from Manila. However, unlike other eclipses, the moon didn’t totally disappear from view but was instead painted with a red color due to some scientific stuff I couldn’t care less about.
The color cast by refracted light — which can range from bright orange to blood red to copper to dark gray — depends on the amount of volcanic gas and dust in the atmosphere blocking the Sun’s light. *Oh, so that’s why… I think I should pay more attention to my Physics10 class this sem. Hehe.*
from Inquirer.net
BUT due to *cue Kuya Kim impersonation* cloudy skies and threats of rainshowers, the only red I saw in the sky when I went out just an hour ago was… the sky itself. Rain is manifesting. Clouds everywhere! Hence, no eclipse in this part of the metro. =(
Luckily, some very good photographers from the Digital Photographer Forums managed to snag a few shots, so I’m reposting them from this thread:
This one is by Bernard Billedo and has been edited in Photoshop five times over.
This one’s from Charlie Suguitan
Sigh… I’d love to photograph the moon or even the sun during an eclipse someday. Someday, someday…
I don’t know about you guys but I’m totally fascinated with eclipses. Well, astronomy in general but eclipses have a very special, eerie and mysterious feel to it. It’s like a strange and peculiar phenomenon that has always been brought up in discussions, even announced in the news.
I have not yet witnessed a lunar eclipse because, well, it looks too ordinary. The moon is just like in its waxing or waning phase, so there’s nothing special about it. Today was special, though, because it was a Total Lunar Eclipse, though the moon didn’t totally disappear.
What I like more are Solar Eclipses. When I was little I was able to witness a Total Solar Eclipse. I remember giving out X-Ray film strips my dad brought home from work (he used to be a ward clerk at Makati Medical Center) to all of my friends so they’d protect their eyes while watching the moon go over the sun. It was eerie. Freakish, actually. Everything went black for about a few minutes. I thought the X-Ray film had something to do with it. Apparently not.
I wish there’d be a Total Solar Eclipse again. People will more or less go gaga telling everyone it’s the end of the world, that a giant lion is devouring the sun, or some extrasupernatural thing will occur and the eclipse was a warning sign of it. Strange how we turn scientific milestones into quick–and sometimes humorous–quasi-beliefs. But then again, that’s the Pinoy culture, right?
August 28th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
hmmm… honestly i was young then when i last saw an eclipse (elementary ata). and coincidentally, i saw it while i was still living in manila with my dad. weird eah? i don’t remember what we used to watch it. cellophane ata. pero black din eh… i don’t like lunar eclipses. or im not as interested as i am with the solar. syempre mas iba kasi yung effect.
pero oo nga.. people always interpret it as some sort of bad omen.. sabi nga nung kapatid ko kanina while waiting and hoping if they could see the moon as well, “di ba ‘te sabi nila bad luck yun?”
ang sagot ko? “MALAY.”
August 28th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Maybe it’s because we are so interested with the connection of astronomy to astrology. Hello Madam Auring. It’s so easy to blame the moon nga naman.
Have you heard of Mercury Retrograde? Yeah, it’s when they say techie stuff and gadgets go bonkers because of the effect of Mercury’s orbit “seemingly” going back upon itself. We always have fun attributing it to our technological mishaps, like when the projector doesn’t work during a report, or when there’s no signal in the cellphone, we’d go “Mercury Retrograde kasi!” Okay this really should be in another blog post, hehe.
August 28th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
I read about the eclipse yesterday and was planning to watch and photograph it.
Unfortunately, I forgot to make an alarm and I wasn’t able to wake up at 6:30 AM. Hehe
August 29th, 2007 at 2:57 am
Hehe, your 12x Optical Zoom digicam could’ve done the trick! Sayang… Anyways, let’s all wait for the next one to come. =)
August 29th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
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August 29th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
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