Blood Moon

Total Lunar Eclipse of January 20-21, 2019: It was the super blood wolf moon and was a total lunar eclipse. I watched the entire eclipse under a clear sky from Boardman. The last eclipse I observed was solar eclipse, when I was in Stuttgart, Germany in 2016. If I remember correctly, a total lunar eclipse happens only when the sun, Earth, and moon are lined up. The moon pushes further into Earth's shadow at 3685 km/h (2290 mph). In fact, there can be a wide range in brightness of the Moon. In 1921, the French astronomer Andre-Louis Danjon introduced a five-point scale of luminosity to classify total lunar eclipses. I would rate this moon "2", which represents deep red or rust-colored eclipse. Very dark toward center of umbral shadow, though relatively bright at its outer edge. The red color happens because sunlight is deflected through Earth's atmosphere. The process is called refraction and it bends read light from the sun. The color of the moon depends on the atmospheric conditions in Earth's atmosphere. The clear the atmosphere, the brighter and lighter the red color appears to be. It was very exciting moment to watch a beautiful celestial phenomenon. The gears I brought out at this time were Nikon SP 7x50 and Fujinon FMT 7x50 binoculars. Both performed pretty well and provided me a stunning view. The next similarly long eclipse won't occur until 2029.