On January 9th, 2001 a total eclipse of the moon was visible for lots of European amateur astronomers. The earth's core shadow darkened the moon, which was dimly lit by the red share of sunlight diffracted by the earth's atmosphere.

Although I had some difficulties to leave from work early, I managed to be ready in time. I met with some friends of mine in Aspern, a suburban part of Vienna, not far from the city border. Although the purpose of our get-together was to observe the eclipse rather than taking pictures, the duration of the event allowed me to take some photos of the obscured moon.

Unfortunately I had to experience that my 400 mm telephoto lens, which would have been the most suitable optics for taking eclipse pictures turned out to be misaligned after having it cleaned by professional services a few months ago. At temperatures as low as in this clear winter night I was unable to focus to infinity, which made the pictures slightly unsharp. In addition, someone broke into my car a few days after. Fortunately I had not left any of my astronomy equipment which they could make use of ... except for my dictating tape recorder - which contained all of my photographic data. Therefore the exposure times are just estimates.

However, I hope you enjoy my pictures nevertheless (click for magnification). All pictures are guided.
Please drop me a line if you would like to comment on it.

 

Partial Phase Size: 40 KB Lens: 400 mm / 8.0 Film: Kodak Royal Gold 400 Filter: none Exposure time: ~ 3 sec Location: 16°29' E, 48°13' N Comment: North direction is left.

Total Phase Size: 80 KB Lens: 400 mm / 8.0 Film: Kodak Royal Gold 400 Filter: none Exposure time: ~ 10 sec Location: 16°29' E, 48°13' N Comment: North direction is left.

Deep Totality with Lots of Stars Around d Gem Size: 73 KB Lens: 400 mm / 5.6 Film: Kodak Royal Gold 400 Filter: none Exposure time: ~ 10 sec Location: 16°29' E, 48°13' N Comment: North direction is left.

Please keep in mind that astrophotography is a hobby that demands a lot of money and even more time and effort. So I have to state that the copyrights for all of these pictures are reserved. In case you'd like to use our pictures for more that just watching them, please send me an e-mail-message and ask for permission.
Thank you.

Other sites related to the 2001 lunar eclipse:
 
About the principle of a lunar eclipse.

If you should have found a broken link or suggest other recommendable sites related to the lunar eclipse, please let me know.

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