We have just witnessed the first total
lunar eclipse of 2014. There will be another one in October. Tonight was
cloudless and we could stand at the front of the house and watch the shadow of
the Earth pass across the Moon, until the color of the Moon was much like the
copper color of a worn penny. With the full Moon essentially turned off for a
while, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter were very visible. Couple the clear night with
the convenient timing of totality occurring just after 9:00 PM and we had an
ideal occurrence.
Although totally different, it reminded
us of the total solar eclipse we witnessed in Hawaiʻi in 1991. At that time we
had a tour group with us on Oahu. We flew to Kona early in the morning since
the path of totality was across the northern part of the Big Island and stayed
at the airport to watch the eclipse. The areas both north and south of us were
clouded in and missed the eclipse. Even the telescopes of Mauna Kea did not get
a good view. However, our group at the airport had a tremendous view and we
even captured the whole event on video. Everything went dark and the birds came in to
roost, thinking nightfall was occurring. That truly was a once in a lifetime
event.
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