Locomotoring

“A total lunar eclipse will redden the Moon in the early morning hours of March 3, 2026.” – NASA (link)

I am not naive, I didn’t think the scientists mean hex code #ff0000 red. I am open to anything that even glinted towards the red hue. Besides, the month of March had been a quiet in our courtyard. What we had overhead were some beautiful but distant galaxies like the Cigar, Bode’s and the magnificent Markarian’s Chain. But there were no nebulas we could aim for. So when the total lunar eclipse rolled around, I thought I would give moon watching a try. Next total lunar eclipse visible from California won’t be before December 31, 2028.

It turns out that if your astrophotography software is set up for capturing nebulas, it isn’t set up for taking photos of moon – not a deep sky object. The plan to try and do a last minute effort was soon abandoned once we realized that it wasn’t just about turning a few knobs in the software. I started out by taking handheld photos of the moon with our zoom lens.

The goal for the rest of the night was to wake up at 3 am and watch the eclipse for an hour – beginning, middle and the end. Skyguide app confirmed that I could do so from the comfort of the courtyard. The Clearoutside weather app predicted 100% low cloud. I noted the forecast for cloud, I chose optimism, an ism I am prone to, when it comes to sky watching. I skipped my nightly dose of magnesium and set a vibrating alarm on my watch. I kept my binoculars and camera handy along with red headlamp, and warm layers.

What happened subsequently that full moon night was rather anti-climactic.