Since my childhood, I have been fascinated by our Moon. Our nearest celestial neighbor is a significant part of our humanity. We have cast our eyes upon it since before the written word. We have set our feet upon it in a glorious achievement of our collective ingenuity. The Moon has been a cultural mainstay since the emergence of culture itself - revered as a deity, sung about in songs, written about in poetry, enshrined in art and folklore. It is mystery; it is romance; it is light in darkness. The Moon is referenced in our vocabulary (month, Monday, lunatic, and lunacy). The Moon’s cycle of phases was used to create ancient calendars.

Scientifically, the Moon is of great importance, for life as we know it (and this planet as we know it) does not exist without our Moon. At the creation of our Moon, in that cataclysmic collision billions of years ago, our planet was knocked over, 23.5 degrees, resulting in the seasonal changes we experience. The Moon’s size and gravity pull on the Earth, distorting it ever so slightly, giving us tides, and slowing the rotation of the planet. Because of the Moon, the rotation of the Earth has slowed to the 24-hour day we experience. The Moon is also our sentinel and bodyguard. It’s size and gravity helped to divert potentially harmful asteroids from impacting Earth. Without these effects - lack of seasons and tides, a rapidly spinning planet, and left open to impacts - life (especially complex and land-based life) would have had a significantly more difficult time emerging and surviving.

When I was growing up, my family used to play a game called “My Moon,” whereby the first of us to spot the Moon on any given day would call out “My Moon.” It was silly, yes, but it kept our eyes up - looking to the skies in wonder and appreciating the beauty that surrounds us. To this day, I look for the Moon whenever I go outside. I especially love spotting a moonrise, or finding that thin, elegant crescent moon, hovering above the dusk of sunset like the grin of the Cheshire Cat. It is a powerful symbol for me - connecting me to family, to science, to history, and to humanity.

Photographs of the January 2019 Total Lunar Eclipse - Totality Awesome!

The Moon, on it’s orbit around the Earth, passed into the Earth’s shadow. The slight curve of the shadow on the moon proves the Earth is round (Sorry Flat Earthers! Get with the times!). The redness of the Moon in totality is as a result of the light from the sun refracted through our atmosphere and cast on the Moon. Think of it like the colors of dusk illuminating the Moon’s surface. Living in the Pacific Northwest, getting clear skies in the middle of January is not exactly great odds. In fact, the day itself was rainy and heavily overcast, but as luck would have it, the skies cleared from about the time of moonrise until totality was achieved, giving me just enough time to capture the event.