Clouds and Eclipses...

	No more be grieved at that which thou hast done.
	Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;
	Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,
	And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.
	All men make faults, and even I in this,

Well, no clouds, but there was a total lunar eclipse that coincided just about perfectly with a full moon last night. And I decided to wake Jake up to enjoy it with me. I threw on some sweats, set up my camera and the tripod, got my star chart and red flashlight, and then I went to wake up Jake.

I didn't wake up Rachel, but after showing her the pictures, I wish I had. But she has to get up early for work. I do, too, but not as early. And I was only working a half day today because I had to take Jake for an ultrasound in Santa Rosa.

Anyway, it was great. It was the first time I noticed when the moon went in to the penumbra. I noticed it because we could gradually see more and more stars that are normally washed out by the bright moon. That was cool.

Jake pointed out to me what he thought was the Little Dipper. But I showed him how the star chart works and where the Little dipper actually was at the time (obscured by the house). His was, I think the Pleiades, and we have decided henceforth to call it the Mini Dipper. After that, he took to the chart like a pro and promptly found Cassiopeia and Pegasus. And we hung out and talked. I got us each a cookie and told him we had to eat it like an Eclipse. I was holding mine in my mouth while I fiddled with the telescope and it broke and fell. Five second rule was in effect, but I lost the game. Jake made it all the way to totality with his.

I took a bunch of pictures. So for those of you who were sleeping, here's some of what you missed...

That one I shot by holding my camera to the eyepiece of my telescope. Lucky shot - I took about thirty like that and this is the only one that came out. I love my digital SLR!!!!

This one is a composite I put together in Photoshop. Click on it to see a bigger picture...

I'm not going to win any awards or anything, but it's pretty cool, I think.