Location: Atlanta, GA (33.7384° N, 84.4234° W)

Date and Time: 2024-03-24, 11:15PM EDT – 2024-03-25, 03:12AM EDT

Sky conditions: Seeing – Average, Transparency – Mag 2

Instrument: Apertura 60mm FPL-53 Doublet APO Refractor @ f/6 – Aperture: 60mm, Focal Length: 360mm

Mount: Star Adventurer 2i

Eyepiece: N/A (Imaging)

Reticle Device: N/A

Imaging Equipment: Canon Rebel T7i, ZWO IR Cut filter

Image type and sensor: CMOS, APS-C 22.3 x 14.9mm sensor

Image capture details:

Before Eclipse: 2024-03-24, 23:18 EDT, Video mode – 70s MP4, Start capture: 23:18 EDT, End capture: 23:26 EDT, Exposure: 1/500s, ISO: 100, best 20% stacked of 2111 frames

After Eclipse: 2024-03-25, 03:12 EDT, Video mode – 70s MP4, Start capture: 03:12 EDT, End capture: 03:23 EDT, Exposure: 1/320s, ISO: 100, best 20% stacked of 2204 frames

Software: Stacked in Siril, processed in Photoshop.

Lunar eclipses happen twice a year and occur when at least some part of the moon moves into at least part of the Earth’s shadow. They occur only when the moon is in full phase. The types of lunar eclipses and their meanings are:

• Penumbral Eclipse – The moon only slightly darkens. From anywhere on the moon you would see the Earth partially cover up the Sun.
• Partial Eclipse – Part of the moon becomes very dark, part of it remains bright. If you were on the moon in the darkened part, you would see the Sun completely covered by the Earth. From the bright part of the moon, the Earth would cover only part of the Sun.
• Total Eclipse – The entire moon becomes dark. From anywhere on the moon, the Earth would completely cover the Sun. Lunar eclipses can be rated as to how dark they really get. The ratings are the Danjon Scale.

• L0 – Very dark: Moon is almost invisible, especially at mid-totality.
• L1 – Dark: Moon is dark gray or brownish, very hard to see details.
• L2 – Deep red of rust, dark center, edge is brighter.
• L3 – Brick red, rim is brighter and yellowish.
• L4 – Bright copper-red or orange, rim is bright and bluish.

Observe a lunar eclipse. Note the type and exact dates and times of: start of partial eclipse, start of total eclipse, end of total eclipse, and end of partial eclipse. Also include your estimate of the rating from the Danjon Scale if it is a total eclipse.

I got the opportunity to observe and image the Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on Monday March 25, 2024. Since penumbral lunar eclipses are more subtle due to move through the faint, outer part of Earth’s shadow, known as the penumbra, I wanted to compare the full moon before the eclipse to the full moon at maximum eclipse.

I first observed the full moon at 11:18 PM on March 24, 2024. I took a 68 second video through my telescope (video below) for stacking and processing.

I then took a 71 second video during the maximum eclipse on March 25, 2024 at 3:12 AM for stacking and processing. I was surprised to see how well defined the shadow appeared on the moon (video below).

During processing, I put the two images side-by-side for comparison, as seen at the top of this page. Below are the noted times of the eclipse phases.

Penumbral Eclipse begins: 12:53 am

Maximun Eclipse: 3:12 am

Penumbral Eclipse ends: 5:32 am