Lunar Eclipse 15-06-2011

This eclipse was partly visible in Holland and  it was a difficult task to catch the moon as it was rising diring the total phase. The total phase lasted 1h40m (from which the last 1:10 hr was theoretical visible). It took me to 22h50 to catch a glimpse of the moon and it appeared to be a dark eclipse, possibly due to the volcanic activity in Chili of the last weeks. The moon appeared very dark red to brownish in the centre with the naked eye so the Danjon estimation will not have exceeded the L=1.5 value. A precise estimation was not possible due to the bright background light of the twilight. Here are some pictures:

All pictures taken with a Canion 40D DSLR camera with Sigma 50-500 at 200 and 500mm F/8.

The moon visible above the clouds.

22h55: a 1s exposure for the total eclipsed moon (cropped).

A minute before the third contact (23h02) when the left part of the moon got brighter (cropped).

 

23h15: A glimpse of the waxing moon after totality (cropped).