September, 27th, a fine lunar eclipse

While in San Pedro de Atacama for delivering some astronomy classes to the guides of one of the many public observatories settled there, we had the chance to witness a nice total eclipse of the Moon. As a "bonus", this eclipse coincided with a close moon perigee, resulting in a significantly greater apparent size of the lunar disk. Not needed is to say that the sky conditions where perfect, as usual in Chile, providing a truly wonderful spectacle. The views below, taken at the Explora Observatory, display the dark red colour that adorned the lunar disk around the mid-eclipse phase.

On the closer view below we can also glimpse 3 stars near the moon disk (upper left corner), and even one more tiny star extremely close to the limb: indeed watching the Full Moon surrounded by stars is a rare opportunity that only happens during a total eclipse event...

Photos: Cristian Valenzuela/Observatorio del Pangue - September 27th, 2015
Camera: Canon EOS 60D at prime focus of Meade LX200 16" f/6.3