The Netherlands is not exactly a place frequented by clear skies, but we had a cloudless sky in Maastricht when it mattered!
After a few cups of hot chocolate, a friend and I trekked to a field on a nearby hilltop - away from most city lights - and set up the telescope near the Dutch-Belgian border. We stayed up the entire night to see the celestial shadow-works and it was spectacular! It was wonderful to have the optical aids to see Earth’s shadow engulf the moon, crater by crater!
But not everything went as planned.
First, I had spent the entire evening in dim, red light at home, so that my pupils would be as widely open as possible. This was in vain because supermoon was, well superbright, and my pupils must have contracted as soon as I must have peered at it! Second, the temperature outside was much lower than in my apartment, the latter being the temperature of the air inside the telescope tube. This difference played with the lens which did not give us the clearest of images. And there was very heavy dew, which densely settled on the lens. So the telescope was more or less a flop show. Fortunately my binoculars were powerful enough, and their lenses easy to wipe! And finally, thanks to the dew, our shoes got completely soaked, and my feet were super cold for more than 5 hours that we were outside, and hurt terribly. But all these problems were dimmed by the eclipse itself.
First, I had spent the entire evening in dim, red light at home, so that my pupils would be as widely open as possible. This was in vain because supermoon was, well superbright, and my pupils must have contracted as soon as I must have peered at it! Second, the temperature outside was much lower than in my apartment, the latter being the temperature of the air inside the telescope tube. This difference played with the lens which did not give us the clearest of images. And there was very heavy dew, which densely settled on the lens. So the telescope was more or less a flop show. Fortunately my binoculars were powerful enough, and their lenses easy to wipe! And finally, thanks to the dew, our shoes got completely soaked, and my feet were super cold for more than 5 hours that we were outside, and hurt terribly. But all these problems were dimmed by the eclipse itself.
The wonders of the eclipse were not limited to the moon. As I already said the supermoon lit everything up rather brightly. So, it was quite difficult to see many stars. But there was a profusion of stars as soon as the total eclipse turned the moon into a benign red marble for 72 minutes. We saw many, many shooting stars, as we lay on our backs, gazing at the starry expanse of an otherwise spotless sky! The stars disappeared as soon as the moon peeped out of Earth's shadow, much like children scurry at the appearance of a strict disciplinarian.
--
Despair not if you missed the super blood moon - you can watch it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment