A Celestial Event

[az_gila]

Tonight's celestial event even trumped a blue moon - a total lunar eclipse on the solstice.
Unfortunately a thin cloud layer made photos difficult, but on the good side, the cloud layer kept the outdoor temperature up - a pleasant 15 C outside at midnight - the joys of the desert....:PDT_Aliboronz_24:

It was a bright moonlit night, and the moon started to have a noticeable bit "missing" at 11:42

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More and more got shadowed... at 12:08 -

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...and pretty dark by 12:22 -

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Then the amazing bit - as the eclipse became almost total, the shadowed part of the moon glowed red - here at 12:37

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I was lucky to get this picture with a 0.8 second hand held exposure, but it really was that red - no color changes in PhotoShop.

The clouds became a bit thicker so I quit, but the bright moonlit night of an hour ago had gone pretty black, with only a few house lights and the distant city lights visible.

It was 1638 when this combination last occurred.

[Oudeis]

It was 1638 when this combination last occurred.

But then it would have been less hassle to observe at about half past four? ;)

[dazza]

Very good az. I'm sorry I missed it.

The shortest day of the year today - the Winter Soltice. It must be difficult living in the higher lattitudes such as northern Finland, Norway etc... with very little daylight.

[Oudeis]

AZ, I have just followed a link from the Yahoo home page and the pictures there are not a patch on the ones you took. Today is our 'Christmas' feast day. We shall have a few friends over and tuck-in. [this way I shall have all the Christmas day cartoons to watch in peace. :)]

[az_gila]

AZ, I have just followed a link from the Yahoo home page and the pictures there are not a patch on the ones you took. Today is our 'Christmas' feast day. We shall have a few friends over and tuck-in. [this way I shall have all the Christmas day cartoons to watch in peace. :)]

Thanks for the comments - I was very pleased that my Canon did so well with it's 20x zoom in hand held mode - I finally worked out how to set it in Speed Priority mode...:)

The clouds were still there this morning, and my wife woke me up to see a beautiful sunrise - the latest one of the year - that is a good as a sunset.

Sunrise over the mountains --

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Technical note - just downloaded the free photostich software from Microsoft - it worked well to join 4 shots in the above pic. Note that this sunrise is raw out of the camera, no image processing or colour control in any way other than the stitching.

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/ice/

PS I think Christmas Eve will be our feast day, a friend's family is coming over and all three generations will have whiskey tasting after our distillery trips in Kentucky this last summer...:PDT_Aliboronz_24:

[Oudeis]

Good luck with all of that AZ. Somebody bought me Whisky for Christmas...a blatant bit of racial stereotyping I calls it! I am not a Whisky drinker...bourbon though? I could go for some of that. Enjoy!

[ChrisGeorge]

Wonderful to see! Many thanks, AZ!

C

[az_gila]

Good luck with all of that AZ. Somebody bought me Whisky for Christmas...a blatant bit of racial stereotyping I calls it! I am not a Whisky drinker...bourbon though? I could go for some of that. Enjoy!

Our present list is -

Jameson Irish whiskey
Makers Mark Kentucky bourbon
Gentlemen Jacks Tennessee whisky
Glenfiddich Scotch whiskey

It will be interesting to see what the differences are...

Cheers.....:PDT_Aliboronz_24:

[Oudeis]

Now, that last one on your list,a single malt, is one I do enjoy. [Scotch whisky has no 'e' :)]
Somebody gave me a bottle of 15yo Laphroaig a while back that was very smoky in flavour, bur only if you drank it all at the one sitting or left much time between tasting for I found the smokiness had gone by day two. It's hard task you have set yourself, but a worthwhile one. :)

---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:22 PM ----------

BTW...

http://www.malts.com/index.php/Gateway-en

[az_gila]

Now, that last one on your list,a single malt, is one I do enjoy. [Scotch whisky has no 'e' :)]
Somebody gave me a bottle of 15yo Laphroaig a while back that was very smoky in flavour, bur only if you drank it all at the one sitting or left much time between tasting for I found the smokiness had gone by day two. It's hard task you have set yourself, but a worthwhile one. :)

---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:22 PM ----------

BTW...

http://www.malts.com/index.php/Gateway-en

Thanks for the Scotch link... We also have a bottle of Glenlivet, but the taste chart shows it being close to the Glenfiddich so we won't use it. I'm also a bit concerned about getting our guests too sloshed to add more bottles...:)

Thanks for the Scotch spelling reminder, I must have spent too much time in the Kentucky distilleries last summer, who apparently have their own standard...:)

I found this on-line....

"The ATF [Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms dept. of the US govt.] says the whisky is the correct speliing for US whiskys but allows companies to use the "improper spelling" which most choose to do"

I was also wrong calling the Jack Daniel's a bourbon I've been told - it's "Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey"

[lindylou]

We've got Chivas Regal and Jamesons Irish.

http://www.jamesonwhiskey.com/age_verification.aspx

http://www.scotchwhisky.net/blended/chivas.htm

[Oudeis]

Chivas Regal is a real treat, for something yet more in that line try Glayva...

http://www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/glayva.htm

[lindylou]

It's my husband who likes a drop of Scotch. I don't drink it. :)
I'll recommend that one Oudeis. :thumbsup:

[Oudeis]

It's my husband who likes a drop of Scotch. I don't drink it. :)
I'll recommend that one Oudeis. :thumbsup:

It is one for the ladies...so, yes get him to fork out for it. ;)

[lindylou]

It is one for the ladies...so, yes get him to fork out for it. ;)

ah yes, I see it is a liqueur. :)

[Norm NZ]

I'm not a whisky drinker, but in my cabinet I have a bottle of Haig's 'Dimple', given to me at least 25 years ago, and still unopened!!!! Think it will be any good now???:PDT_Aliboronz_11:

[Oudeis]

I'm not a whisky drinker, but in my cabinet I have a bottle of Haig's 'Dimple', given to me at least 25 years ago, and still unopened!!!! Think it will be any good now???:PDT_Aliboronz_11:

I think this is probably a collectors item by this time, especially if it has the wire mesh around it. I do not think they even sell this any more. It is has been more than 30 years since I tasted it, but I am sure it is worth more unopened. Bernie could this become an heirloom?

[az_gila]

...we got a repeat. A full lunar eclipse this morning right at sunrise.

Unfortuneately, because it was at sunrise, the sky was already getting light so the shot wasn't a dramatic as last year, and I was also half asleep...:)

This mornings picture at 6:56 am - of a full moon --

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My calendar puts todays Morning Twilight at 6:48 am and Sunrise at 7:15 am.

At our location the eclipse is total at 7:06 am - just too light for good pics, and three more years before we get to see another one.

[ItsaZappathing]

Wooohooo :handclap:
Very good az:handclap: