I might have missed seeing a single sardine this last week past while on a photographic expedition of the thus far illusive sardine run, but not all photographic opportunities were lost when I was privileged to witness another spectacular global event, the Total Lunar Eclipse on the 15th June.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the shadow of the Earth, and where the Earth prevents the rays of our Sun from striking the Moon and thus making the Moon appear a darker red colour. It occurs when the Sun, Earth and the Moon are exactly aligned, with Earth in the middle, and can only occur on a full Moon night. This has not been seen since February 2008 and will only occur again in September 2015.
In total awe and wonder I sat on the evening-damp grass, taking a succession of images of our beautiful Moon, which is 3,474 kilometres in diameter, weighing 7.35×1022 kilograms – that’s 735 followed by 20 zeros – and watched Earth slowly cast its shadow to completely replace the Moon’s normal bright white light with a striking orange glow. Truly an awesome sight that not too many witnessed, but that those in Southern Africa had some of the best chances of seeing.
Another four years to wait to witness this again but pleased to hear only a few days to wait before I join Walter Bernardis of African Watersports again to see the sardines, which reports have assured me have finally decided to grace us with their presence, can’t wait…
Find out more about my last sardine run experiene with African Watersports here…
Watch my space!