{"id":50820,"date":"2023-10-24T10:39:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T10:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/c6ad639d-2d46-4e9a-a649-53c90e7d7b48"},"modified":"2023-10-24T11:32:30","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T11:32:30","slug":"how-to-photograph-the-28-october-partial-lunar-eclipse","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/how-to-photograph-the-28-october-partial-lunar-eclipse\/","title":{"rendered":"How to photograph the 28 October partial lunar eclipse"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to capture the colours of Earth’s shadow on the Moon. <\/p>

By Pete Lawrence\n <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 24 October 2023 at 10:39 AM<\/p>

\n\n

In this guide we’ll reveal how to photograph the 28 October partial lunar eclipse<\/a> and capture colours in the shadow.<\/p>

If it\u2019s clear on 28 October, from the UK we\u2019ll be able to see a slender portion of the Moon\u2019s disc covered by the darkest, umbral, portion of Earth\u2019s shadow.<\/p>

The effects of this partial lunar eclipse<\/a> may be tricky to observe with the naked eye, but capturing a photograph of it is a good way ti take advantage of the event.<\/p>

Both the umbral shadow and the penumbral shadow contain colour, but the presence of the bright lunar surface makes this nigh on impossible to see and very hard to photograph.<\/p>

Find out when the\u00a0next eclipse<\/a>\u00a0is taking place<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

Processed images of a partial lunar eclipse from 2013 combined to create a high-dynamic-range (HDR) result that shows umbral colour. Note that the partial lunar eclipse that\u2019s happening on 28 October will affect the southern portion of the Moon\u2019s disc Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Things to consider<\/strong><\/h2>

If you are attempting to photograph the 28 October partial lunar eclipse, there are a few things to think about as you plan your capture.<\/p>

A total eclipse of the Moon is typically quite colourful. What you would expect to be a totally dark shadow of Earth is infilled with light refracted through our planet\u2019s thin skin of atmosphere.<\/p>

This not only brings light to the otherwise dark shadow, but it also brings colour from what is essentially a continuous ring of sunrise and sunset as seen from the vantage point of the Moon.<\/p>

The red colouration is obvious when the Moon is completely covered by Earth\u2019s shadow, but can it be seen or photographed during a partial eclipse?<\/p>

\"Lunar
Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon passes into the shadow that Earth casts in space. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>

An additional difficulty comes from the colour itself, which can vary quite a lot between eclipses.<\/p>

A dark eclipse can become a deep, ruddy, brown colour, which makes the Moon quite hard to see against a dark sky.<\/p>

A light eclipse, on the other hand, may appear a bright coppery colour.<\/p>

The variation occurs due to the amount of cloud present in the thin layer of Earth\u2019s atmosphere that light has to pass through during the eclipse.<\/p>

Read our guides on how to photograph a lunar eclipse<\/a>, how to photograph the Moon<\/a> and how to photograph the Moon with a smartphone camera<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\"Partial
Partial lunar eclipse photographed on 24 April 2013 by Tom Howard, Crawley, Sussex, UK. Equipment: Nikon D7000 DSLR through a Skywatcher 100ED refactor on an AZ4 mount.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Photographing the eclipse: tech and specs<\/strong><\/h2>

A camera is the best way to record the colour of the partial lunar eclipse, but you\u2019ll have to work at producing a high-dynamic-range (HDR) image.<\/p>

This can be produced either with a colour camera or a monochrome camera with switchable red, green and blue (RGB) filters<\/a>.<\/p>

If you have both, the mono camera can be used to capture the luminance or tonal aspect of the eclipse, the colour camera being used to record the colour information.<\/p>

A pseudo luminance can be created by using the colour camera to capture an image, subsequently using your graphics editor to convert it to greyscale.<\/p>

\"Graphic
Graphic showing the key times for the 28 October 2023 partial lunar eclipse. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Using a layer-based editor, carefully align images and, with the greyscale image on top, set its blend mode to luminance. \u00a0<\/p>

The beauty of this challenge is that once you\u2019ve grabbed the exposures required, you can take your time to create a composed HDR image that hopefully looks natural and brings out the colourful beauty of this small but exciting eclipse.<\/p>

It should certainly be possible to extract the umbra\u2019s colour, but can you pick out any banding in the adjacent penumbra?<\/p>

If you do manage to photograph the lunar eclipse, don’t forget to send us your images<\/a>!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

This article appeared in the October 2023 issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.<\/em><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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