Lunar eclipse rekindles my interest in social astronomy

The February 20th event where the Earth drifted between the Sun and the Moon was an interesting one for me.

After Tess mentioned the night before that it'd likely be visible here (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), and that we do have a nice little telescope, some binoculars, and a couple of cameras, that maybe we should make an effort to actually watch it.

So, after a quick email exchange with a couple of friends, an impromptu eclipse party was set up on a good friend's driveway (hi Scratch!). It was also fortunate his driveway faced east, right toward the rising moon.

Now to the social part. This was coordinated over the course of a few hours during the day, mostly by email.

The degree interest, and participation was awe-inspiring. Ranger Bob brought out his atom-smasher 8" scope with camera mount. He also brought a few other scopes and binoculars. Ranger Bob wins the Gear award

Another friend had a digital camera mounted on the scope, and recorded over 2000 frames to be compiled into a movie.

Tess and I brought our gear, Scratch had a few items of optics, as well a few other brought support supplies, Coffee and Donuts. The driveway looked like the media pit at a space shuttle launch!

Neighbourhood families wandered by. Kids kept oohing at the view through the scopes and binoculars.

The most interesting part of the evening occurred when we realized we were getting some glare on Ranger Bob's scope from the overhead streetlight, right above us. Out came a large black umbrella, and turns were taken holding it up to shield the scope.

You can sort-of see the umbrella (the blurry thing) just below the moon.

But for me, the evening wasn't just about the planetary event, though that was cool, it was about hanging out with friendly, like-minded people and sharing the experience.

I need to do more of that

For more info on the event and many more photos, check out:

Technorati Tags: Space, Astronomy, Eclipse, February 20 2008, Lunar Eclipse, Photo, Photography, Moon, Camera, Telescope, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Brad Grier, Article