11.08.2015

Supermoon Lunar Eclipse

On September 27th, for the first time in 30 years, the Earth experienced a lunar eclipse which coincided with a supermoon. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, blocking the direct light of the Sun from reaching it. The Moon usually has a reddish hue during that time, so is often called a blood moon. A supermoon occurs when the Moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit. Since the Moon's orbit around Earth is an ellipse, there are times when it is further away and times when it is closer. When it is closer, it appears larger in the sky, and hence is called a supermoon.

Anyway enough of the science, let's get on to the pictures!

First, I'll show some scenic shots with and without the moon, then I'll show you a sequence of shots that goes from the full eclipse back to the normal Moon.

View from my first vantage point
Waited a long time due to a cloud bank on the horizon blocking my view, so took some shots while I was waiting. Here's a closeup of the bridge over the river at night.
Finally the Moon appeared!
Moon with Tree
Later I moved to a walking bridge to try for some shots there
Another shot
Now on to the eclipse sequence. This is when I first finally saw the Moon. It was fully eclipsed.
Sun shine starting to creep back at the bottom
Really noticeable now
Starting to get really bright and hard to get both parts in the picture
Took a darker picture but still the light part is completely blown out
Switched to exposing for the lighter side of the moon - now the other side is completely dark
About 75% through the second half of the eclipse
Almost done!
Back to normal

3.14.2015

Pi Day - Ultimate Edition!

Well, it's Pi Day again.

This time around, though, it's extra special. This year, the date and time is 3/14/15 9:26:53, something that happens only once every 100 years! You can even get a t-shirt about it, of course.

I was planning to take a picture of my atomic wall clock on the exact Pi second, but I realized that it doesn't display the year anywhere. I then went in search of a website that displayed the time and date in the right format, and I found something even better - time.is/pi_day!

The website has a special page dedicated to Pi Day, which displays the numbers white when they're not part of the pi digits, and black with digits of Pi in the background when the numbers are part of Pi.

Here's a picture of the clock when it's not the exact right time:



And here's the Pi Second!



Happy Pi Day of the Century!

Random fact of the day: Albert Einstein was born on Pi Day, though he didn't know it at the time.