Worth waiting for

MOONGAZERS were disappointed on Saturday afternoon when the four minute window to see the total eclipse of the moon was closed by cloud.

However some people did manage to witness a partial eclipse as the moon rose above the eastern cloud cover.

Shetland was going to be the only place in the UK where the last total eclipse before 2014 would be visible, but this was only to be four minutes as the moon rose above the eastern horizon.

The best place to see the eclipse was the north of Unst because that is where the moon rises and sun sets earliest, but the clouds prevented even this possibility.

Photographer Austin Taylor patiently waited just outside Lerwick as the 2.54pm deadline passed, and around half an hour later he was rewarded with ever improving views of the partial eclipse.

“Not a patch on last year’s total lunar eclipse, but nonetheless a very nice sight,” he said.

Austin’s story can be read at http://atpblog.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/partial-lunar-eclipse/