Hi folks,
as promised some more details on my observations last night. And what a lucky one I've been! After greatest eclipse, as I packed my things and went home, the first thin clouds appeared. This morning saw a dull grey sky, dropping small shapeless snowflakes.
I was surprised how clearly the eclipse was visible and how distinctly it affected even the surroundings. Before the eclipse I saw a glaring full moon that made the snow on the ground glitter and was difficult to look at - you could hardly see the maria, the dark regions on the lunar surface in all that brightness. At 22.40 UT - more than one hour before greatest eclipse - the Southwestern part of the moon seemed slightly darker than the rest. I saw that with the naked eye, but it was even better to see with binoculars. And the glare was gone! It was easy now to look at the moon and to see its surface features.
20 minutes later I noticed that the moonshine around me was subdued. The landscape was still brightly lit, but not as brightly as before, and the snow glittered less. The moon looked much darker than a usual full moon and seemed slightly too yellow for its high altitude - it had a colour that you usually see when it's closer to the horizon.
These effects were very clearly visible for about an hour around maximum eclipse, and they were more intense than I had expected. I have seen a number of total lunar eclipses already, and with each total you get a penumbral eclipse like the one last night for free. But I have never seen these things so clearly! Often I just haven't looked because everyone told me you couldn't see the penumbral eclipse, anyway. Later, even as I watched out for the penumbral eclipse I didn't see the changes in the surrounding landscape. And seeing a show of nature that most people overlook is always impressive!
Cheers!
Markus
P.S.: Pics to follow tonight.
