NEWS ARCHIVE

Monday's Lunar Eclipse in Photos

The early hours of Monday 28th September saw the UK (and much of Europe, Africa and the Americas) welcoming a rare combination of astronomical phenomena. Close to its perigee, the nearest point in its orbit around Earth, the full moon was about 7-8% closer than average, causing it to appear bigger and brigher - a "supermoon". This also coincided with a lunar eclipe, where the Moon, Earth and Sun aligned in such a way that the full moon passes into the Earth's shadow (or "umbra"). At this point, it goes dark but remains faintly illuminated by the sunlight bent by the Earth's atmosphere, giving the Moon a rusty red tinge. This kind of supermoon eclipse hasn't been seen since 1982 and won't again until 2033, but what made this event rarer still was that it took place amid an almost cloudless late September sky!

3:47 AM: The angel statue atop Alexandra Palace grasping at the moon before it emerge's from Earth's Shadow. Photo by Sam Lindsay.While most people were asleep at 3am on a Monday morning, those who set their alarms early were treated to a spectacular event, and were perhaps able to take a picture of the stunning, red moon as it passed by. Several RAS staff endured a sleepless night in order to capture the event and to speak about it with the world's media, and Dr Sam Lindsay was well-placed at Alexandra Palace in North London, taking photos between interviews, as the eclipse progressed.*

*For those interested, these were taken with a Canon 600D through a Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM lens with a cheap tripod and no other kit required.

If you have any photos of the eclipse you would like to share with us, tweet them @RoyalAstroSoc.

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