Election Day Total Lunar Eclipse at Maximum Eclipse; captured from Colorado Springs, 8 November 2022 at 0400MST
Election Day Beaver Blood Moon – Colorado Springs – November 2022
Fun facts
A total lunar eclipse occurred on Tuesday, 8 November 2022. The southern limb of the Moon passed through the center of the Earth’s shadow. It surpassed the previous eclipse as the longest total lunar eclipse visible from nearly all of North America since 17 August 1989, and until 26 June 2029. Occurring only 5.8 days before apogee (on 14 November 2022), the Moon’s apparent diameter was smaller. The next total lunar eclipse will take place on 14 March 2025. A lunar occultation of Uranus happened during the eclipse. It was the first total lunar eclipse on Election Day in US history. This event was referred in media coverage as a “beaver blood moon”.
This lunar eclipse was the fourth and last of an almost tetrad, the others being 26 May 2021 (T), 19 November 2021 (P), and 16 May 2022 (T).
The eclipse was completely visible over the Pacific and most of North America. It was seen on the rising moon in Australia, Asia and in the far north-east of Europe, and on the setting moon in South America and eastern North America.
Equipment
Polar alignment: QHYCCD camera (controlled by Polemaster)
Imaging stream: Orion 10″ f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope (a.k.a. Big Zeus (BZ)); Canon EOS 5DSR (controlled with EQASCOM driver)
All equipment controlled by HP Probook running Astro Photography Tool (APT) v 3.87.9.2
Capture & processing notes
Sequence plan: Using a combination of APT sequences and manual adjustments to exposure, captured 448 images, 8Nov2022, 0214MST – 0555MST. Plan (not fully realized, especially as the exposures needed to change rapidly during U2 and U3) built in APT for and within each change of lunar state, but like most plans, it didn’t stand up to first contact with the real eclipsed moon…so the image capture was a “real time” adjustment to exposure throughout the night as the lighting changed. All taken at ISO400, exposure length ranged from 1/500 second in U4 to 30 seconds during maximum.
Capture: 8 November 2022, 0214MST – 0555MST
Shooting location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Processing: Processed in Lightroom
