Photos of the Day: The Annular Solar Eclipse...

Richard T. Par

This morning, I stepped outside of my house to take photos of today's much-anticipated annular solar eclipse...using my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera with a solar filter sheet attached to its lens.

The solar filter sheet, which was suggested by one of my brothers (who used it when he traveled out of state to view the Great American Eclipse of 2017), was purchased through this page on Amazon—and custom-fitted so that it could fit inside a UV lens that was placed at the front of my 300mm telephoto lens.

Needless to say, I'm extremely excited about how the pictures turned out! Not only did I get crisp images of the Moon passing in front of the Sun's surface, but I also captured a couple of sunspots on the solar disk!

Today's photos makes me want to travel out of state to be under the path of totality six months from now...when the next Great North American Eclipse occurs on April 8, 2024! I'll think about this some more.


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par

Photos of the Day: Last Night's Lunar Eclipse Above Southern California...

Just thought I'd share these images that I took of last night's Super Flower Blood Moon...which was the longest total lunar eclipse in 33 years!

The Super Flower Blood Moon lasted for 85 minutes, while the Moon spent 96 minutes in Earth's darker shadow (or umbra) back in August of 1989—around the time NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft conducted its flyby of the icy giant Neptune.

I used my Nikon D3300 to capture last night's celestial event. This was the third time in four years that I took photos of a lunar eclipse with my DSLR camera; the first event being the Super Blue Blood Moon on January 31, 2018...and the most recent one being the Super Blood Wolf Moon on January 20, 2019.

Happy Monday!

Perseverance Update: The Wheeled Robotic Explorer Watched the Martian Moon Phobos Transit the Sun Three Weeks Ago...

NASA / JPL - Caltech / ASU / MSSS / SSI

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Captures Video of Solar Eclipse on Mars (News Release - April 20)

The Mastcam-Z camera recorded video of Phobos, one of the Red Planet’s two moons, to study how its orbit is changing over time.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has captured dramatic footage of Phobos, Mars’ potato-shaped moon, crossing the face of the Sun. These observations can help scientists better understand the moon’s orbit and how its gravity pulls on the Martian surface, ultimately shaping the Red Planet’s crust and mantle.

Captured with Perseverance’s next-generation Mastcam-Z camera on April 2, the 397th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, the eclipse lasted a little over 40 seconds – much shorter than a typical solar eclipse involving Earth’s Moon. (Phobos is about 157 times smaller than Earth’s Moon. Mars’ other moon, Deimos, is even smaller.)

The images are the latest in a long history of NASA spacecraft capturing solar eclipses on Mars. Back in 2004, the twin NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity took the first time-lapse photos of Phobos during a solar eclipse. Curiosity continued the trend with videos shot by its Mastcam camera system.

But Perseverance, which landed in February 2021, has provided the most zoomed-in video of a Phobos solar eclipse yet – and at the highest-frame rate ever. That’s thanks to Perseverance’s next-generation Mastcam-Z camera system, a zoomable upgrade from Curiosity’s Mastcam.

“I knew it was going to be good, but I didn’t expect it to be this amazing,” said Rachel Howson of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, one of the Mastcam-Z team members who operates the camera.

Howson noted that although Perseverance first sends lower-resolution thumbnails that offer a glimpse of the images to come, she was stunned by the full-resolution versions: “It feels like a birthday or holiday when they arrive. You know what’s coming, but there is still an element of surprise when you get to see the final product.”

Color also sets this version of a Phobos solar eclipse apart. Mastcam-Z has a solar filter that acts like sunglasses to reduce light intensity. “You can see details in the shape of Phobos’ shadow, like ridges and bumps on the moon’s landscape,” said Mark Lemmon, a planetary astronomer with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, who has orchestrated most of the Phobos observations by Mars rovers. “You can also see sunspots. And it’s cool that you can see this eclipse exactly as the rover saw it from Mars.”

As Phobos circles Mars, its gravity exerts small tidal forces on the Red Planet’s interior, slightly deforming rock in the planet’s crust and mantle. These forces also slowly change Phobos’ orbit. As a result, geophysicists can use those changes to better understand how pliable the interior of Mars is, revealing more about the materials within the crust and mantle.

Scientists already know that Phobos is doomed: The moon is getting closer to the Martian surface and is destined to crash into the planet in tens of millions of years. But eclipse observations from the surface of Mars over the last two decades have also allowed scientists to refine their understanding of Phobos’ slow death spiral.

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Photo of the Day: The Great Eclipse of 1991...

Michael A. Stecker

Just thought I'd share this image of the total solar eclipse that could be seen from both American continents on July 11, 1991. I myself didn't personally view the eclipse [since my family didn't yet have a telescope (with a solar filter on it, obviously)], but I was so stoked to watch live coverage of it on television that day, as well as see a giant photo of the eclipse make the front page of the Los Angeles Times newspaper on July 12 three decades ago. (I lived in L.A. County back then, and I still live there today.) This eclipse, according to Wikipedia, was the most central total eclipse in 8 centuries—and there will not be a more central eclipse for another 800 years! I was 11 years-old at this time, with my passion for astronomy and space exploration being at an all-time high that year...until NASA's New Horizons mission enhanced my obsession tenfold (but not really in a positive way) in 2005, that is.

Happy Sunday!

Photos of the Day: The Super Blood Wolf Moon in Progress...

Just thought I'd share these two pics that I took last Sunday of the Moon as Earth's shadow slowly crept along its surface...leading up to a total lunar eclipse about an hour later. I obviously planned to take snapshots of the Super Blood Wolf Moon once it reached totality, but stupid clouds rolled in by that time and prevented me from doing so. Oh well. To see totality images that I took of the Super Blue Blood Moon almost a year ago (on January 31, 2018), click here. All pics, including the ones posted in this Blog entry, were taken with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera. That is all!

Photo of the Day: An Orange Half-Moon in the Sky...

Just thought I'd share this pic (shot with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera) that I took of tonight's Waxing Crescent Moon...which is tinted orange from all of the smoke coming from the Woolsey Fire still burning near Malibu (about 74 miles from where I live in Pomona), California. The last time I took photos of the Moon, it was back in late January...when it had a crimson hue due to the fact that it was a Super Blue Blood Moon (a.k.a. a Supermoon that was also a Blue Moon which occurred during a lunar eclipse, also called a Blood Moon). Like that winter snapshot, I wish today's image was also taken in less dire circumstances.

My sympathies to those who lost their loved ones and homes during the tragic wildfires currently raging in northern and southern California.

Photos of the Day: The Great Eclipse of 2017...

Just thought I'd re-share these pics that I took of the Great American Eclipse...which occurred one year ago today! These images were taken from my house in Los Angeles County. I believe that you had to travel to Oregon, Wyoming, Tennessee or Kansas (among other places throughout the country, of course) to see the total solar eclipse, whereas an annular eclipse was visible over much of the United States. These photos were obtained with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera—with special glasses provided in an old issue of Astronomy magazine placed in front of the lens. Happy Tuesday!

Photos of the Day: The Super Blue Blood Moon...

Earlier today, I drove down to a park in Diamond Bar, California, to take snapshots of today's Supermoon/lunar eclipse...also known as the Super Blue Blood Moon. This is the second time since New Year's Day that a Supermoon graced the skies above California and other parts of the country. This is also the second Full Moon we've had this month (the first one being on New Year's Day)—hence the nickname Blue Moon. And of course, Earth's shadow caused the lunar surface to be bathed in a nice crimson hue during the eclipse, hence the term Blood Moon. According to NASA, the next Super Blue Blood Moon will be on January 31, 2037! Don't ask me how old I'll be that year (I already checked... D'oh!), but I can't wait to get photos of that lunar spectacle when it occurs. Presumably, I'll employ a much better camera than the Nikon D3300 DSLR (which I used to take these images) next time. Happy Hump Day!

Photos of the Day: The Wolf Moon of 2018...

Happy New Year, Everyone! I hope your first day of 2018 was a safe and memorable one. Anyways, just thought I'd share these pics that I took of tonight's Supermoon, also known as the Wolf Moon...which is the second Supermoon to take place in less than a month. And guess what? A third Supermoon will occur on January 31st—complete with a total lunar eclipse that will be visible over much of the world (except parts of Africa, South America and western Europe)! I definitely can't wait to get pics of that one...assuming I'll be able to get out of bed early in the morning to go outside and take photos. The total lunar eclipse itself begins at 4:51 AM and ends at 6:07 AM, Pacific Standard Time. Don't know if the Moon will have set below the horizon during that time, but it's all good. I used my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera to capture these images.

So once again, have a safe and prosperous new year, everyone! And Happy Monday.

Photos of the Day: Tonight's Supermoon...

Just thought I'd share these pics that I took of tonight's Supermoon...also known as the Frost Moon, Cold Moon, Long Night Moon, Moon before Yule and the Strawberry Moon (as seen from the Southern Hemisphere, that is). This is the first of three consecutive Supermoons to grace the skies over the next two months; another Supermoon will take place on January 1st, while the third one—which will also be a total lunar eclipse that's visible over much of the U.S.—occurs on January 31st. Sweeet. In regards to the settings I employed on my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera for these images, I selected ISO 200 for the exposure, placed the shutter speed at 1/800, had the f-stop at 6.3 and used a Nikkor 70-300mm autofocus zoom lens that I got for my birthday this year. How sweet again. I'm totally lookin' forward to the lunar eclipse next month! Have a great week ahead.

Photos of the Day: The Great American Eclipse...

Just thought I'd share these pics that I took of the highly-anticipated Solar Eclipse of 2017 about two hours ago. These images were taken from Los Angeles County, meaning that I only saw a partial eclipse in the sky. (One of my brothers, on the other hand, flew to Kansas City this weekend to check out the total solar eclipse.) These photos were shot with my trusty Nikon D3300 DSLR camera...with eclipse-viewing glasses that my other brother got from an issue of Astronomy magazine that he purchased years ago. Doooope. Happy Monday, folks!

The Year of New Horizons and Star Wars Has Arrived!

NASA

Happy New Year, Everyone! 2015 promises to be a mega-year in terms of movies and space exploration...with our first close-up glimpse of two dwarf planets about to take place in a few months, and the follow-up to The Avengers and the long-awaited first installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy set to come out in theaters by this Christmas. In terms of the dwarf planets, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will arrive at asteroid Ceres this March—while the New Horizons spacecraft will make its historic flyby of Pluto this July (the probe will begin Pluto encounter operations on January 15). On the manned side of spaceflight, a NASA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut will launch to the International Space Station this March to begin a year-long mission aboard the outpost that should provide intriguing data about how humans will someday fare during a years-long journey to and from Mars.



On the movie aspect of 2015, Avengers: Age of Ultron will continue Marvel's winning streak at the theaters on May 1, while Disney (which owns Marvel) will enhance its overall winning streak when Kylo Ren (shown above) unleashes the Dark Side of the Force in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens on December 18. Other potential blockbusters will storm the cinemas as well...like Furious 7 (April 3), Mad Max: Fury Road (May 15), Jurassic World (June 12), Terminator: Genisys (July 1), the James Bond film Spectre (November 6), Part 2 of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (November 20) and Mission: Impossible 5 (Christmas Day). In terms of M:I-5, I hope it's as good as 2011's Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol...but I sure as heck hope that it doesn't eat too much into The Force Awakens' box office take during the holidays! We'll see if Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt proves a match for Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) when they hit the big screen once more.



On a personal note, two close high school friends of mine are planning to get married (to other folks, that is) by the end of this year. Good for them! For financial reasons, I'm just hoping that their weddings will both be in-state (California, FYI). One of them already is. Cross my fingers that the other one will, too! Heh.



January 2015
-SpaceX's Dragon ship launches cargo to the International Space Station (Jan 6)
-Taken 3 (Jan 9)
-72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (Jan 11)
-College Football Playoff National Championship in Arlington, Texas (Jan 12)
-NASA's New Horizons spacecraft begins Pluto encounter operations (Jan 15)
-Blackhat (Jan 16)
-NASA's SMAP satellite is launched to low-Earth orbit (Jan 29)



February 2015
-Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona (Feb 1)
-Jupiter Ascending (Feb 6)
-57th Annual Grammy Awards (Feb 8)
-Kingsman: The Secret Service (Feb 13)
-Fifty Shades of Grey (Feb 13)
-2015 NBA All-Star Game in New York, New York (Feb 15)
-Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (Feb 20)
-57th annual Daytona 500 in Florida (Feb 22)
-87th Academy Awards (Feb 22)
-Focus (Feb 27)



March 2015
-NASA's Dawn spacecraft arrives at dwarf planet Ceres (Mar 6)
-Chappie (Mar 6)
-The Coup (Mar 6)
-The first qualification motor test-firing is conducted on the 5-segment solid rocket booster for NASA's Space Launch System, in Utah (Mar 11)
-Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (Mar 13)
-2015 NCAA March Madness basketball tournament begins with Opening Round Game (Mar 17)
-The Divergent Series: Insurgent (Mar 20)
-A total solar eclipse will be visible over Europe (Mar 20)
-Get Hard (Mar 20)
-NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko launch on a one-year mission to the International Space Station (Mar 27)
-Conclusion of the March Madness tournament prior to the 2015 Final Four games in Indianapolis (Mar 29)



April 2015
-Furious 7 (Apr 3)
-2015 NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana (Apr 4)
-A total lunar eclipse will be visible over western North America, the Pacific, east Asia, Australia and New Zealand (Apr 4)
-NCAA Final Four Championship Game in Indianapolis, Indiana (Apr 6)
-SpaceX's Dragon ship launches cargo to the International Space Station (Apr 8)
-NFL Draft begins (Apr 30)



May 2015
-Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1)
-NFL Draft concludes (May 2)
-Mad Max: Fury Road (May 15)
-Pitch Perfect 2 (May 15)
-Spy (May 15)
-Tomorrowland (May 22)
-Start of the 2015 French Open tennis tournament (May 24)
-99th Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (May 24)
-San Andreas (May 29)



June 2015
-Entourage (Jun 5)
-Conclusion of the 2015 French Open (Jun 7)
-Jurassic World (Jun 12)
-SpaceX's Dragon ship launches cargo, including the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, to the International Space Station (Jun 13)
-Inside Out (Jun 19)
-Ted 2 (Jun 26)



July 2015
-Terminator Genisys (Jul 1)
-Start of the 2015 Tour de France (Jul 4)
-Minions (Jul 10)
-NASA's New Horizons spacecraft makes its closest approach to the dwarf planet Pluto (Jul 14)
-2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Cincinnati, Ohio (Jul 14)
-Ant-Man (Jul 17)
-Trainwreck (Jul 17)
-Pan (Jul 24)
-Poltergeist (Jul 24)
-Conclusion of the Tour de France (Jul 26)
-Point Break (Jul 31)



August 2015
-The Fantastic Four (Aug 7)
-Masterminds (Aug 14)
-Straight Outta Compton (Aug 14)
-Launch of Japan's fifth H-2 Transfer Vehicle to the International Space Station (Aug 17)
-Sinister 2 (Aug 21)
-Hitman: Agent 47 (Aug 28)
-Start of the 2015 World Rowing Championships in France (Aug 30)



September 2015
-SpaceX's Dragon ship launches cargo to the International Space Station (Sep 2)
-Jane Got a Gun (Sep 4)
-Kitchen Sink (Sep 4)
-Conclusion of the World Rowing Championships (Sep 6)
-Triple Nine (Sep 11)
-A partial solar eclipse will occur (Sep 13)
-Black Mass (Sep 18)
-Everest (Sep 18)
-The Intern (Sep 25)



October 2015
-Victor Frankenstein (Oct 2)
-London Has Fallen (Oct 2)
-The Jungle Book (Oct 9)
-Vacation (Oct 9)
-St. James Place (Oct 16)
-Jem and the Holograms (Oct 23)
-The Last Witch Hunter (Oct 23)



November 2015
-Start of the Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok, Thailand (Nov 1)
-Spectre (Nov 6)
-The Peanuts Movie (Nov 6)
-Conclusion of the Asian Archery Championships (Nov 8)
-The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (Nov 20)
-The Good Dinosaur (Nov 25)
-The Martian (Nov 25)



December 2015
-Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (December 18)
-Alvin and the Chipmunks 4 (Dec 23)
-Mission: Impossible 5 (Dec 25)
-The Revenant (Dec 25)
-The U.S. Marine Corps' F-35B Lightning II fighter jet officially becomes operational and ready for combat (TBD)
-China launches the Barcelona Moon Team's lander and rover to the lunar surface (TBD)
-Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus freighter launches cargo to the International Space Station (TBD)