Lunar eclipse

i probably should have blogged about the lunar eclipse before it happened to give everyone who reads this a heads up, but oh well. we got a fantastic show here in chicago, the sky was perfectly clear, and i saw the eclipse both from outdoors (in -25C weather) and from my bedroom window with a glass of wine in my hand. it was, indeed, very beautiful - the moon turning red is a beautiful thing - and arises from a simple geometric alignment. i can't help but be disappointed that all of the amazing celestial phenomena that "we" astronomers (i've got an office in their building, so i can call myself an astronomer when it suits me) are aware of and observe, perhaps less romantically through giant telescopes and across the em spectrum, are not equally accessible to every person here on earth.

here are some pics from esa.