Saturday, 26 September 2015, I and several other members of the Oracle Dark Skies Committee provided a "dark skies" information booth at the re-opening dedication of American Flag Ranch in Oracle. We gave a "No Light Pollution" pin to people who made a $5 (or more) donation to help support the ongoing work of the Committee. The observatory was not opened Saturday night.

A few clouds appeared mid-day on Sunday, 27 September. I did open the observatory for the Perigee (or SuperMoon, if you prefer) Total Lunar Eclipse. Here's an excellent article on "Sunday Night: Getting Ready For a ‘Super-Harvest-Blood-Moon Total Lunar Eclipse’" at Universe Today. The eclipse was in progress as the Moon rose at Cassiopeia Observatory.

Open: Sunday, 27 September 2015, 1808 MST Temperature: 96°F

Session: 862 Conditions: Mostly clear

After opening the observatory I immediately began setting up to photograph the Total Lunar Eclipse. Added the f/6.3 focal reducer to the 8" LX200-ACF in order to capture the entire lunar disk with the D7200 DSLR. 1823 MST: viewed Saturn, 53X. Mounted the DSLR at prime focus + focal reducer + extension + visual back. Focused using Saturn. 1836 MST: slewed to the Moon's position (behind the hill to the east) and began waiting for the Moon to rise over the hill. 1855 MST: I noted that normally a Full Moon rising would have brightened the eastern sky by this time, but the sky was still dark. 1900 MST: the eclipsed Moon began to appear. Through mid-eclipse the Moon was visible through a tree. It did not rise above the tree until 2003 MST. At various times during the eclipse I viewed the eclipsed Moon using my 12x70 binoculars. What follows are unedited (except for the conversion from Raw to JPEG) photos of the "SuperMoon Total Lunar Eclipse" as seen from Cassiopeia Observatory.

1900 MST:


1901 MST:


1903 MST:


1905 MST:


1911 MST, beginning of Total Phase:


1919 MST, Total Phase:


1933 MST, Total Phase:


1948 MST, Total Phase, Mid-eclipse:


1958 MST, Total Phase:


2007 MST, Total Phase (finally above the tree):


2023 MST, End of Total Phase:


2038 MST, Partial Phase (long exposure to bring out eclipsed portion):


2039 MST, Partial Phase (short exposure to bring out Earth's shadow line):


2053 MST, Partial Phase:


2108 MST, Partial Phase:


2123 MST, Partial Phase:


2127 MST, End of Umbral Eclipse Phase:


2138 MST, Some Penumbral Phase shading:


2145 MST, Still some Penumbral Phase shading:


2150 MST, Full Moon, almost no Penumbral Phase shading:

After removing the camera from the telescope I viewed the Full Moon, 83X.

Close: Sunday, 27 September 2015, 2205 MST Temperature: 73°F

Session Length: 3h 57m Conditions: Clear

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