I love events such as lunar eclipses. They tend to remind me how small I am compared to the size of the universe. It's amazing how something so simple can be so impressive.
This is the second lunar eclipse I've managed to witness, and the beautiful colour of the moon is something that will also still continue to impress me. Unfortunately the photo shown here isn't very good, but it's the best I could do with my little digital camera (along with some cropping and noise cleaning in GIMP, but otherwise no other alterations). This photo was taken around half-past midnight this morning.
Here's a view from my kitchen window from around 11pm yesterday, where oddly the moon looks a bit like the Pepsi logo for some weird reason:
Some really beautiful photographs were taken from the Mira Observatory in Grimbergen, a place I normally associate with its beer. Check them our on their web-cast page.
More details and photos can be found through the BBC.
The last total lunar eclipse I saw was while I was still in Australia. Then, with the lack of light pollution, the moon turned a perfect dark blood-red, and accompanied by some whispy clouds (technically called cirrus vertebratus) it looked like the perfect back-drop for a vampire movie.
My second favourite moon event is the so-called Moon Illusion, probably because I vividly remember gigantic rising moons and setting suns on the horizon in 1987. Last year, this happened quite frequently through summer as well, and it was nice watching the giant moon rise through a cyan coloured evening sky from my kitchen window while cooking dinner!