Watching Shadows

     Watching the birds on the feeder outside the window, their colors become so much brighter as the shadows move away from them. The details of the feathers become more noticeable. The red hood on the woodpecker “pops” and the bright blues of the Blue Jay's feathers stand out against the brown of the trees. You can easily distinguish between individual birds!

    Whenever a photograph is taken, shadows and light make up what we see on the paper. (or on the screen) The composition of a good shot involves positioning the lights and darks in a pleasing way.

    The earth’s rotation as it orbits around the sun brings us into the earth’s shadow every night. Day and night depend on where the sun is in relation to us. When we see a Lunar Eclipse, we are watching as the earth’s shadow moves across the surface of the moon. When we see a Solar Eclipse, we are watching as the shadow of the moon passes across the earth’s surface.  The sun is being hidden by the moon.

    On a separate note, isn’t it amazing that the orbit of the moon and the size of the moon is just right to completely cover the sun? If the moons orbit was further away from the planet, we wouldn’t get complete coverage. For that matter, isn’t it neat that the orbits coincide with each other to properly line up to provide these events!

    Here’s another note for you…On April 8^th, 2024, we here in the Pittsburgh area will be treated to a nearly complete solar eclipse. (Approximately 95% of the sun will be covered from here) By driving north to the area around Erie, we will be able to see a complete solar eclipse! 100%!!! The shadows path cuts across more than just the Erie area, there are plenty of places you can go to see this event! If you can do it, I’d suggest making that drive! You will be inside the shadow of the moon! The surrounding area will be dark even though it will be the middle of the day! Mark your calendars! Don’t miss it!

The Chinese S.S. (Tiangong) going from west to east (R to L) at top of picture

(Click to enlarge)

Tiangong disappearing as it passes over the Pleiades

    I experienced another example of the earth’s shadow a couple nights ago. There was a pass of the Chinese Space Station (Tiangong) going over Pittsburgh. After it passed overhead, it started to fade and then disappeared from view. It had just passed into the earth’s shadow. While it was visible, about 250 miles above us, the sun was shining on it and illuminating it. Since it is so far away, no details could be seen, just a bright star like point of light traveling across the sky. When its orbit took it into the shadow, it appeared to disappear.  There one minute and gone the next!

    There are lots of satellites which orbit the earth, many which can be seen without any optical aid. Two of them, Tiangong and the ISS (The International Space Station) have crew members living on them! You can get an idea of when they will be passing over your area by checking various apps and web sites.

 I use Heavens-above.com to see what’s going over my house.

    You know that it doesn’t take a lot to excite me. I find that something to be proud of! Things like watching shadows of Jupiter’s moons crossing the planet’s surface. Seeing the peaks of mountains on the moon being illuminated by the sun while their bases wait in the shadows for the sunshine to reach them is always cool to see. Simply watching the shadows on the hillside across the valley slowly rise up the hill as the sun gets lower and lower can be exciting.

    Watching the shadows move across the snow in the back yard, I can’t help but think, it is such a neat world we live in! There are so many interesting things we see every day. So, keep your eyes open, who knows what we might see next?

The Mid-November Lunar Eclipse

    While most of my neighbors were sound asleep, my alarm went off. It didn’t startle me, in fact I was  dreaming about waiting for it to wake me! I jumped up and went to the front door and took a look outside. Clouds, just as I had expected! This is Pittsburgh and the gods of the weather don’t really like us astronomers.

    It was 2AM on Friday morning. (11.19.21) The entire country would be able to see most of the eclipse which was happening right now! Everyone except those who live around me it seems. The darkest portion of the earth’s shadow would be hitting the edge of the moon’s disc at 2:18. A few clouds didn’t matter; I was going out to see what was visible.

    I got dressed, pulling on some heavy socks and my winter coat and went outside to see what my chances were of seeing anything. Luck was with me, there were breaks in the clouds. The moon could be seen, a bit fuzzy but still seeable. Every so often a clear patch would drift past and the brightness of the moon increased dramatically.

    My camera and tripod were inside the door so I pulled them out and set up in the front yard. I had some difficulty in focusing on the moon since it was most often covered in haze. The camera lens was set at manual focus because of the clouds. I played around with the exposures as the conditions changed. Both the clouds and the shadow which was now starting across the moons disc altered the brightness. A couple of neighbors had their porch lights on but this morning, it didn’t bother me. I was watching an eclipse, not searching for faint fuzzies in deep space!

    The clouds moved across in front of the moon rather quickly while the shadow of the earth crept  across the face of the moon much, much slower. At times, when the moon was covered there would be a reddish colored ring which surrounded it. 

    My hands were getting cold from re-adjusting the tripod every five or ten minutes. It is made of metal and retains the cold quite well! I went inside to get my gloves. This is a benefit of observing from the front yard, I can quickly get the things I forgot!

    A short while before 3 the moon entered a clear patch between the clouds. The patch spread out and soon I started noticing stars. There were stars that couldn’t normally be seen during a full moon. Orion and Gemini could be seen along with Auriga and the Pleiades. I sat on my porch chair and just enjoyed the view for awhile, forgetting about photography and the eclipse.

    The clearing lasted about a half hour or so and then the clouds started moving back in front of the moon. I took a walk around the neighborhood to warm up a bit. The temperature was down in the low 30’s. I enjoyed the walk in the quiet; it reminded me of going out for walks with Red, my dog. We did lots of early morning walks together, he smelling everything and me with my head pulled back, gazing at the stars.

    Back at home I took a few more shots. The eclipse still had a ways to go but the moon was dropping down into the trees on the hill to the west of my house. To continue watching the eclipse, I’d have to move out of my yard.

    In some ways, luck was with me. The clouds covered the moon and I lost sight of it completely. Thick clouds continued to drift overhead, so I went inside to the warmth of the house.

    At 4:02, I went outside to see if anything was visible. This was when the eclipse was covering 97% of the moon, it's maximum. I couldn’t see anything. There wasn’t even a glow in the trees where it would’ve been. The eclipse was over for me.

    Inside again, I wrote a few notes. Looking at the pictures could wait until the morning. Then I crawled back under my covers and fell quickly back into my dreams.