“We ran as if to meet the moon.” ~ Robert Frost
∞
January 31, 2018. Waking up at 5:30a to go see a moon event may not seem like a fun thing to do for 21st century teenagers. Somehow, I was able to talk them into it. This is the second full moon of the month, a blue moon.
We drive out to a spot on the outskirts of town where the blinding lights of the Houston skyline minimally polluted the sky. Mom set up the tripod and begins shooting with the 600mm lens; the moon in its perigee looks beautiful and large on the horizon.
This is a super moon.
As the moon aligns with the sun and earth on the end where earth’s shadow looms, the lunar eclipse begins to envelope the moon, preumbra. Last year, the moon was in between the sun and the earth, a solar eclipse; That event is still fresh in our memory; it preceded epic flooding in Houston by only a handful of days.
This is a lunar eclipse.
It wouldn’t be long before the light of the dawn would wash out what would be a blood orange umbra to those viewing hundreds of miles to our west. In the Houston area, it’s more of a peach moon.
But it’s a blood moon nevertheless.
We stayed long enough to watch as earth’s satellite faded with the sunrise and disappeared completely from view, obscured by the morning’s rays.
Bye bye, Super Blue Blood Moon. Glad we got to see you with our own eyes in our own lifetimes.
∞
Did you get to view the Super Blue Blood Moon?
Tell us about it! Link to your post or photos
in the comment section.
DirtNKids Blog 
Great shots, Shannon. How exciting. We had a great show in SF with no fog. It was thrilling to photograph. Glad you had a good show, too!
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Thank you, Jane! I’m glad you got to go out and shoot the moon too. You photos of the SBB Moon over the Golden Gate are fantastic. It was a great morning with my kids; if only they appreciated it as much you and I did. 😀
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Bea-U-ti-ful!
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Thanks, Hyde. We certainly think so!
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These are awesome captures, Shannon! It was only a partial eclipse on the east coast and we were cloudy to boot. Glad you made the effort and got to experience it, you’ll never forget it!
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Thank you, Donna! I enjoyed the peace and quiet throughout the photo sequence, except for the occasional bicker between siblings being held early-morning prisoner by their mother. Perhaps one day they’ll appreciate the things I do … or not. It was amazing!
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Here on Clear Lake, it was great viewing until totality, even with the lights around. Unfortunately, low cloud and haze near the horizon meant there wasn’t any chance to see it slip back out of totality — although by that time it was becoming so light, and the moon was so low, there probably wouldn’t have been much to see. But it was great fun — glad you all got to see it, too.
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Like you, Linda, we were fortunate to get clear views, unlike others outside Houston. All we had to remember to do was get out early enough and make sure the camera was ready to go! Glad to have had the opportunity to see it with our own eyes.
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Wonderful photos, Shannon. I am glad you were able to see it. I only saw a bit of the blood moon early this morning, but our cloud cover was not conducive to great views, and I don’t know how to take photos in the dark. Thank you for sharing.
Best,
Tanja
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Ah darn the luck. Cool and clear, beautiful views of the moon made a super-early outing worth the effort. If only we were in Colorado viewing it … Cheers, Tanja!
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…you will be here before too long! 🙂
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