Contains:  Solar system body or event
Near Total Lunar Eclipse on the Morning of November 19th (imaging while immobile- see description), William Gottemoller

Near Total Lunar Eclipse on the Morning of November 19th (imaging while immobile- see description)

Acquisition type: Lucky imaging
Near Total Lunar Eclipse on the Morning of November 19th (imaging while immobile- see description), William Gottemoller

Near Total Lunar Eclipse on the Morning of November 19th (imaging while immobile- see description)

Acquisition type: Lucky imaging

Equipment

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Acquisition details

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Description

The image above is a stack of around 5 minutes of frames I took between 3:05 - 3:10 CST on November 19th, 2021. I mounted my Canon EOS Rebel T5i (the unmodded camera) onto a Redcat 51, and I tracked with my SkyGuider Pro. 

Friday morning's lunar eclipse was the first eclipse I have seen in my entire life; although I have been interested in astronomy since I was 4, I haven't had the chance to see an eclipse myself. I was stunned at the moon's pulchritude that night; the sky was clear and transparent, and the moon was crimson and magnificent.

The eclipse and my ambitions to see/image it presented me with a significant challenge: only 15 hours earlier, I sprained (and potentially fractured) my foot while playing basketball in gym class. The night after, I was forced into a boot and onto crutches, and my mobility was severely limited. I had over 30 lbs of gear to take out on my own, almost none of which was in an easy-to-carry case. Thankfully, as I awakened at 2 AM on that cold, clear night, my mother heard me hopping around and brought my gear outside. From there, I polar aligned and set up the scope. I would remain outside, sitting on a patio chair and witnessing perhaps the greatest spectacle of my young life. 

Despite almost complete immobility that night, I managed to wake up at 2 AM on a school night and watch my first-ever eclipse (I had never seen a solar eclipse, either). I regard that night as one of the best of my life, even though I faced great pain and immobility.

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