Lunar Eclipse Wallpaper Contest Yields Hundreds of Photos
Lunar Eclipse
Winner of NASAJPL's I'm There: Lunar Eclipse Wallpaper Contest! Thankful for clear skies, Keith Burns took this series of photos tracking the lunar eclipse's progress across the sky in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Copyright Keith Burns
› Download a wallpaper of Burns' photo
Anthony Dechiaro's foray into astrophotography on Dec. 21 may have been windy and cold, but "with a little luck, patience and a bit of post-processing," he managed to capture the eclipsed moon against a starry backdrop in Parsippany, N.J. Copyright Anthony Dechiaro
Even as clouds threatened to block her view of the lunar eclipse, Tracy Moniz captured this view of the waning moon over Dacula, Ga. Copyright Tracy Moniz
Michael Menefee took a decidedly unique approach to capturing the lunar eclipse over Fort Collins, Colo., and the result was this other-worldly scene taken in a single exposure. Copyright Michael Menefee
To capture the city skyline in the foreground of this lunar eclipse photo, Byron Yu balanced on the ledge of a parking garage in Toronto. Copyright Byron Yu
With a little help from his 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter, Damian Handzy captured the "edge of totality" - as his son described it - just as the moon took on a spectacular reddish hue above Westfield, N.J. Copyright Damian Handzy
Jeremy Taylor and his wife drove nearly an hour outside of Christchurch, New Zealand, to escape the clouds and take a gander at the lunar eclipse. The plan failed - the moon was hidden beneath a layer of clouds, there, too - but on the drive back, the sky cleared just enough for Taylor to capture this eerie view of the eclipse. Copyright Jeremy Taylor
When his plans to watch the lunar eclipse with a telescope fell through, Luis Felipe Milián did the next best thing and took out his digital camera to capture this stunning shot of the eclipse at totality. Copyright Luis Felipe Milián
While watching the eclipse from El Paso, Texas, Brian Wancho took more than 300 shots at different exposures to capture the brightest and darkest portions of the moon. The time span between the final 11 images captured here is about one hour and 45 minutes. Copyright Brian Wancho
Oscar Strawczynski set up below Toronto's CN Tower to snap the red moon rising over the city's signature landmark on Dec. 21. Copyright Oscar Strawczynski
Peter Riesett braved a cold winter morning in Baltimore, Md., on Dec. 21 to capture a shadow creeping across the nearly eclipsed moon. Copyright Peter Riesett
Bradford Smith needed only to venture as far as his back yard in Oklahoma City to capture the moon's transformation on Dec. 21. He captured this montage of images between 1:40 a.m. and 3 a.m. CST. Copyright Bradford Smith
December's total lunar eclipse, which coincided with the winter solstice, offered moon-gazers and photo-lovers the chance to capture one of the sky's most spectacular events. As a result, hundreds of people joined "NASAJPL's I'm There: Lunar Eclipse Group" on Flickr to share their photos and compete for the opportunity to have their snapshots turned into an official JPL Wallpaper at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/wallpaper.
After searching through the nearly 2,000 lunar eclipse photos at http://www.flickr.com/groups/imthere, we selected the 13 finalists above, who submitted unique and stunning perspectives of the Dec. 20-21 event and shared with us their stories of braving the cold, waiting out clouds, and even driving hours to capture the eclipse.
We were especially impressed by Keith Burns' photo montage, which captures the phases of the waning moon up through its red-orange glow at totality. Burns shot this series under clear skies in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. His photo is now available for download as an official JPL wallpaper at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/wallpaper.
Flip through the slideshow above to view some of our other picks and vote for your favorite lunar eclipse scene. To find more lunar eclipse photos and learn about NASAJPL's "I'm There: Lunar Eclipse" campaign, visit: http://www.flickr.com/groups/imthere/.
