Absolutely beautiful! This was how local stargazers described last Wednesday’s total lunar eclipse - something that will only be enjoyed in this part of the world again on July 27, 2018.

The cold weather did not stop enthusiasts in Louis Trichardt from joining the Soutpansberg Astronomy Club (SAC) to view nature’s evening show. A 10-inch F4 Newtonian Reflector with the tried and tested Foton AstroCam attached was used to project the moon´s image on the screen while an 8-inch F8 Schmidt Cassegrain was used for visual observing.

“Popular on the evening was a spotting scope, giving a wider field of view than the telescopes, and my wife and I were kept busy having to track the moon manually,” commented Mr Kos Coronais of the SAC.

The show began right on time, and shortly after 20:20, the bottom part of the moon started darkening as the earth´s shadow began "eating" a chunk away. By the time half the moon was in shadow, more visitors had arrived from town in an effort to get a clearer view.

“The portion of the moon´s surface that was already in shadow was beginning to turn a dark-reddish colour and could easily be seen with the naked-eye but not from a light-polluted site,” said Kos.

With the moon deep in the earth´s shadow, constellations, stars and naked-eye deep-sky objects started appearing. “We swung one of the telescopes towards Saturn, and while people were taking turns enjoying a view of the planet and some of its moons, the moon continued to darken. It was a good time to point out some of the constellations that were not visible prior to totality, such as Sagitta, Delphinus, both Southern and Northern Crowns and plenty more,” said Kos.

As the shadow withdrew again, the landscape was once again bathed in silver moon light.

As mentioned before, local residents will only be able to view such a spectacle again in 2018, although a total lunar eclipse will also take place in 2015.

“But the moon will be so low on the horizon in the morning sky and will set before completely moving out of the earth´s shadow, that it will not be nearly as good as last Wednesday’s show,” said Kos. He thanked Jacaranda RMFM, the Zoutpansberger and the Johannesburg Planetarium for helping to promote the event.

For more information on the Soutpansberg Astronomy Club, phone Kos at Tel 079 148 4934.