15-6-11, Total Lunar Eclipse - Jongomero.

(Click on Image to scroll through more images).   Partial lunar eclipses are relatively common affairs however to view to total lunar eclipse is quite a rare occurence so all guests waited with bated breath for the wonderful astronomical spectacle which we knew was coming on the 15th of June.  A lunar eclipse is where the shadow of the Earth is thrown like a blanket across the moons face veiling it in darkness producing a dull orange glow providing spectacular moon viewing even with a simple pair of binoculars.  As said they are a rare occurence, the last total eclipse to been seen from Earth was relatively recent on the 21st of December 2010 and luckily we have another coming up again relatively soon on the 15th of December later this year.  However for the one after that we shall have to wait until the 15th of April 2014.  The first signs of shodow touched the moons face at around 9:30 PM and reached its peak at 11:55Pm, where the moons face was completely covered and several guests stayed up with binoculars and cameras etc for the entire duration.  As it was a full moon there was a lot of light around, one did not even need a torch to find their way around however as the Earths shadow slowly engulfed more of the moon we were thrown into pitch darkness no doubt confusing a lot of Ruahas wild inhabitants for a while.  The stars then emerged with magnificent brightness and the eclipse could be seen vividly against the backdrop of that mighty constellation Scorpius.  It was certainly a night to remember and we look forward to the next one on December the 12th this year, unfortunately this one will not be able to be seen from Africa as it will occur during the daytime, for those keen astronomers, perhaps a trip to Canada over that date should be planned!!

All the best and happy stargazing

Jongomero Camp