Continued from previous message.

Everyone heard of our loss. 
    The Moon was in the midst of totality, which we observed thru the 
‘scopes and binoculars deployed near Turtle Pond. The loss of our 
equipment, and our coming to the scene empty-handed, made for far 
longer lines at the instruments. Yet we rose to the mission of caring 
for the visitors with star identification, explanations of the 
eclipse, and assorted astronomy questions. 
    This was a lovely textbook eclipse, perhaps a bit on the brighter 
side. All the maria and larger ray systems were obvious in full disk 
views thru the scopes. Overall, the Moon was a shade darker than the 
red phase of the new LED traffic lights! 
    The southern edge of the Moon was quite a bit brighter, being near 
the edge of the umbra. In this zone, the Moon looked almost as 
textured as a normal full Moon, only a lot dimmer. 
    The sky was generally clear with transparency of 3-1/2. The Hyades 
and Pleiades were sharp and sparkling, only lacking their full suites 
of stars. A few bands of thin cloud drifted by, not interfering with 
the eclipse. We scanned the sky carefully for aurorae. None were 
visible. Sharper-eyed folk spotted Orion rising directly below the 
Moon. 
    The air was definitely chilly, the temperature quite near 
freezing. Thankfully, there was only a soft breeze with spells of 
calm. We weren't beaten senseless by what might have been nasty winter 
wind. I was even able to unbutton my jacket partway, it being a winter 
one over a thick flannel shirt. 
    Totality ended with the emergence of the Moon's lower limb from 
the umbra. At 21:00 the crowd started to disperse; the telescopists 
began taking down their gear. Tony Hoffman and I hoofed to the park 
exit next to the Metropolitan Museum and then to the subway. 


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