As you probably know, there was a total lunar eclipse last night, visible from most of the continental United States.  I tried my hand at photographing this event, and I think I got reasonably decent results, given my lack of a telephoto lens.  I used a tripod and the delayed-shot feature on my camera1.  I got half a dozen photos out of the event, which you can find on our photos page.  You can also see in all the pictures Saturn (down and to the left of the moon) and the star Regulus (above and slightly to the left).

While I was looking for information on the eclipse yesterday, I found NASA’s solar eclipse website, which has maps of every solar eclipse from 2000 BC to 3000 AD, in 20-year blocks.  It looks like I only get three chances to see a solar eclipse in my lifetime, assuming 1) I live in this general area of nation for my whole life; 2) I don’t want to travel more than 3-4 hours to see one; and 3) I live to be at least 96 years old.  There was a partial solar eclipse on May 30, 1984 which passed right over my hometown, but I guess I was too two to care at the time.  (See the map of 1981-2000 eclipses.2)  However, on Monday, August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will pass by very close to where I currently live.  I’m thinking on that day I’ll take the day off work and head out to somewhere in the western North Carolina mountains to see the eclipse.  If anyone wants to join me then go ahead and mark your calendars.

The third opportunity for me to see an eclipse will be May 11, 2078.  I will be 96.5 years old then, so I’m not sure if I’ll still care (assuming, of course, that I’m still alive, which is statistically improbable).

One last thing that I couldn’t think of a way to segue into: there is an interesting story about how Christopher Columbus used a lunar eclipse to save his life.  Proof once again that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.