Night Sky Photography -- 08-28-2026 -- The Near-Total Lunar Eclipse (Full Blood Corn Moon)

The near-total lunar eclipse began the previous evening about 9:30 PM Eastern Time when the outer part of the Earth's shadow (Penumbra) began crossing the Full Corn Moon (or Full Sturgeon Moon) as its called her in North America.

An hour later at about 10:35 PM ET the darker part of the Earth's shadow (Umbra) begins crossing the face of the Moon giving the reddish-orange color to the "Blood Moon" -- this is due to the way the Earth's atmosphere scatters light from the Sun. 

The near-total lunar eclipse reached its peak here in South Carolina at around 12:15 AM Eastern Time when 96% of the lunar surface was covered by the Earth's deep shadow. 

I was worried due to the cloud cover from the summer storms we've been getting in late August that I would be unable to capture any good shots of the Lunar Eclipse this time, however God answered my prayers for a break in the mostly cloudy sky and between the gaps in the cloud cover I was able to capture some shots of the Full Blood Corn Moon at the peak of its beautiful glory.

All of these shots were taken during a three-minute window between breaks in the overcast sky between 12:14 AM to 12:16 AM ET. 

I hope y'all enjoyed my photos of the near-total lunar eclipse and hopefully I'll be blessed with clear skies for upcoming night sky events coming up in September that I can hopefully bring to all of y'all.

Night Sky Photography -- 08-01-2023 -- The First Of Two Supermoons In August 2023!

Good evening, y'all!

Last night, after several nights of the surprise hit-and-run rainstorms common for summers down her in my corner of Dixie, and overcast skies, we finally managed to have clear semi-clear skies....and just in time for the first of two full moons in the month of August, 2023.

This year both this evening's Full Sturgeon Moon -- the name for the August full moon in North America -- and the Blue Moon of Wednesday, August 30th are Supermoons!

This evening, the Full Sturgeon Supermoon is approximately 222,158 miles (or, 357,530 km) from the Earth.

In the wider night sky shot you can also see the planet Saturn near the Full Moon. I thought the moonlight with the nearby clouds came out quite beautifully with the giant ringed planet a small, bright dot nearby. Saturn is currently 820,817,683 miles (1,320,978,013 kilometers, or 8.8 AUs) from the Earth. Saturn is currently located inside the Constellation Aquarius.

Saturn will also be present with the Blue Supermoon on August 30th and appear much closer. I'm praying for clear skies so that I can photograph them that evening.