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Posts tagged: Moon
Video of this morning's winter solstice lunar eclipse
December 21, 2010, 12:13 pm View CommentsEarly this morning, I crawled out of bed and went to the front of my apartment to watch the winter solstice lunar eclipse. Thankfully, I had the perfect angle through my window to watch the Earth’s shadow move across the face of the Moon without having to bundle up and face the cold like so many of my brave friends on Twitter.
I tried taking some photos, but the kit lens on my Canon T2i just wasn’t cutting it. My iPhone just laughed at me and spit out some blurry images. But I wasn’t worried. I knew that the Internet’s brilliant astrophotographers were snapping photos with camera rigs far more impressive than mine. I decided to relax, put down the camera, and pick up the binoculars.
I think it was the most spectacular lunar eclipse I ever saw. The sky over Baltimore was completely clear, and the Moon turned a deep rusty orange that was staggeringly beautiful, even from the middle of the city. Before we had science, people must have freaked right out when this kind of thing happened. (Or slept through it.)
I was right about the talented Internet photographers. Check out this time-lapse video of the eclipse by William Castleman.
Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.
[Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse via Gizmodo]
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Thanks, Mom and Dad, for introducing me to space
October 27, 2010, 5:22 pm View CommentsI owe a lot of my interest in science and space exploration to my parents. Growing up, my Dad took me on field trips to explore planets and stars through telescopes in the dead of winter. My first up-close look at the Moon knocked my socks off. We put down blankets in the backyard and counted meteors during showers. My parents bought subscriptions for me to kids’ science and space magazines, and I once got to spend a summer at the the Maryland Science Center’s planetarium in Baltimore.
A few years ago, when Mars and the Earth were closer to each other than they’d ever be in our lifetimes, my dad and I gazed at the Martian polar ice caps through his telescope. It was stunning.
Just this past May, I was lucky enough to road trip down to Florida with my sister and father to watch my first-ever space shuttle launch, the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-132. Right now, I’m beside myself with excitement for the NASA Tweetup this weekend.
I’m so thankful that my parents introduced me to space at a young age. Just a few minutes ago, I got this email from my dad:
The date for the next launch draws near and I’m excited even tho I’m not going! So I thought you might like to see this pic of your space shuttle toy that I found cleaning up today. Still in great working condition!
0:-)
I totally remember this toy. It was one of my favorites. Right now, I kind of want to go home and play with it.