Did you see the total lunar eclipse last night? I hope so, because it was an especially spectacular sight from the Amazon River aboard the cruise ship Azamara Journey!
We were headed due west at 12 knots toward Manaus, Brazil, with all lights off to avoid mosquitoes and disrupting the river’s copious nocturnal wildlife.
Based on 20 years of weather data for the Amazon, there was a 92% chance it would be cloudy, and forecasts backed that up.
When I went up to the top deck of the ship, I was greeted by a spectacular lunar halo. I was glad to see this, as it meant we had a good chance of seeing the eclipse.
By the way, see my “UFO” at the 2 o’clock high position? I have no idea what it is, but it is intriguing as you can see in the inset.
Right on time, the Earth’s penumbral shadow appeared and became more prominent.
Eventually, the dark umbra shadow appeared and slowly enveloped the moon, until we saw the distinctive color at totality when the moon is completely in the Earth’s umbra. Clouds really enhanced and added to the next iPhone pic. By the way, no color is added by me to my astropics.
Totality lasted 65 minutes and was glorious!
It was so dark, the Milky Way and the Southern Cross seemed so close on the river you could reach out and touch them.
It was all over way too soon as the moon began to brighten, clouds started rolling in and the lights of Manaus lit up the sky and river.
This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m glad I could share it with you.
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