Penumbral Lunar Eclipse 2013 Oct 18.

by Eric Emms

The Flamsteed Astronomy Society had organised a meeting on Blackheath to observe the eclipse and the Sky At Night TV programme  planned to film the event for transmission in early November. Several Baker Street Irregulars,  including me, would be attending.

I arrived at the location by car before 19:00 UT to find bright lights from the TV crew illuminating the patch of the heath where an array of telescopes had been set up. In the light it was easy to set up my William Optics GT-81 then ponder the thick clouds masking the Moon.

Photo: Julie Ramsden.

The four-hour eclipse was expected to be at its maximum at 23:51 UT so all had time to chat with the Flamsteed astros, Irregulars and curious locals who turned up to see the event.

Photo: Philip Stobbart

We waited for the clouds to part. We waited. The TV hosts went through their routines to camera. We waited. Lunar and asteroid belt meteorites were thoughtfully shown to us by planetary scientist Katie Joy 

Photo: Philip Stobbart

Then we waited and chatted. And we chatted and waited. The Moon poked through the clouds on occasions allowing me to show the disc to a few young people but soon retreated behind cloud cover.

As the hours of the eclipse wore on there was little chance of observing any of it. The astronomer numbers were draining away: I packed up, thanked the Flamsteed organisers, trudged to my car and headed home.