East County night owls and stargazers were up late last night observing the moon pass behind the earth’s shadow for a total lunar eclipse–it is the first time the Earth, moon and sun have been in exact alignment for two and a half years.
The event led to a glimpse of the rare occurrence, with the moon changing color from bright orange to a blood red and brown. The partial eclipse was visible just before 11 p.m., while the best viewing time were around 12:45 a.m. The total eclipse ended around 1:25 a.m.
According to amateur astronomer and ECCFPD fire captain Ross Macumber, the red dot just above the moon to the right is Mars. Jupiter is in the sky towards the North West and Saturn is just appearing in the south east sky
Photographs provided by:
- Chris Campbell
- Ross Macumber
- Corinne Rodriguez-Evans
- Jessica Mendoza
- Marie Langlade Crandell
- Peter Villalplando
- Phil Walton
- Steve Verduzco
