WATCH THE MILKY WAY INSTANTLY POP INTO VIEW DURING LUNAR ECLIPSE

 

TALK ABOUT A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART.

Milking It

This week's moon eclipse provided a spectacular view of our lovely home, the Milky Way galaxy, for a brief and brilliant moment.

 

The Gemini Observatory's All-Sky camera at its Hilo, Hawaii headquarters captured video of the amazing event. It was dark enough for Gemini's powerful telescope to see the furthest ends of our galaxy during the three seconds at roughly 5:30 PM local time when the Sun, Earth, and Moon coincided and therefore placed the Moon in our planet's shadow (known as totality).

The All-sky camera at @GeminiObs South got a pretty good view of the Lunar eclipse last night! Note the very sharp decrease in brightness between 12-17 seconds! #discovertogether #Eclipse #EclipseLunar #Eclipse2022 @NOIRLabAstro @NOIRLabAstroES pic.twitter.com/raOZFa9RyT

— US National Gemini Office (@usngo) May 16, 2022

 

Optics

Apparently, the Milky Way was visible throughout the eclipse without the use of Gemini's super-powerful telescopic camera.

 

Several photographers shared their photos of the breathtaking occurrence, including one Canadian photographer who captured a stunning panorama of both the Milky Way and the Aurora Borealis in one picture.

Milky Way, Lunar Eclipse and the Aurora Borealis in one photo! How can a night get any better?!
Brookdale, Manitoba
11:39PM CST, 05/15/2022@TamithaSkov @TweetAurora @CBCManitoba @ctvwinnipeg @TravelManitoba @TourismWestman pic.twitter.com/DGa8LEtXjd

— High Hopes Aurora w/ Justin Anderson (@AuroraJAnderson) May 17, 2022

 

Tyson Feuds

This eclipse also provided a chance for famous scientific wonder-denier Neil deGrasse Tyson to claim that eclipses are "un-spectacular," prompting a lot of irritated reactions from skywatchers and, oh, Wendy's fast food business.

 

As one of the respondents pointed out, seeing the Milky Way isn't unusual, but that doesn't make it any less spectacular.

 

"If you're away from light pollution, the Milky Way can be viewed most nights in the summer," they added, "and I'm in amazement every time I see it."

 

Take that, Neil!