once again settled on it. Slowly the moon changed phases back to full, and by three in the morning it was as if nothing had occurred. I pulled in my telescope and camera and fell to bed to be woken up three hours later.
Eclipse 1,2,3, and 4
This eclipse was one of four in a year also known as a tetrad. Tetrads are relatively rare: in a 5000 year period only about 140 occur. Even more interesting is that tetrads are becoming less and less common. In the far future no
tetrads will be possible. Because earth’s orbit is slowly becoming more circular, it is not allowing these phenomena to be created as often, and will one day make it impossible. The second eclipse of the 2014 tetrad will happen in early October. What makes this tetrad even more rare,though, is that each one will be visible in North America. The next tetrad will be in 2032, eighteen years from now.
Witnessing a lunar eclipse is an experience everyone should have once in their life. The next three
This Sequence by photographer David O. Rankin shows the first half of the lunar eclipse. The center image displays the magnificent totality phase of the eclipse.