2026 March 3 ~ Total Eclipse of the Moon over Toronto; Michael and the telescope
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Photographed at Outer Harbour Marina parking lot near Tommy Thompson Park on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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The first of two lunar eclipses for 2026 took place in the few hours before sunrise as seen from the eastern half of North America on the morning of March 3. This was a shallow total eclipse, with the Moon passing through the far southern portion of Earth's shadow. The result was a fairly short, 58-minute duration of totality for this eclipse.
Complicating matters for observers in southern Ontario, including Toronto where I live, were three other facts: 1. The Moon would be quite low in the sky at the start of even the partial phase of the eclipse, and extremely low during the total phase. 3. The forecast was for a clear sky in the two days preceding the morning of the eclipse, but for clouds to move in just as the eclipse would be starting. 2. This winter has been very cold and snowy in this part of North America, and the forecast was for an overnight temperature of -9 C. (16 F.).
So especially with the outlook for cloud, I thought that the chance of seeing anything of this eclipse was quite low. But I'm an astronomer, so I had to try!
I got out of bed at 02.30 after about three and a half hours of sleep, packed my gear into the car, and drove the 14 km to the Toronto waterfront to set up and wait for the spectacle to start. When I got there around 03.15 the sky was still clear, and as the partial phase advanced I was able to get some decent photos through the telescope.
But then the predicted cloud started to roll in from the west, making further photography very difficult. most of the resulting images were washed out and soft looking, without the sharply defined lunar features that I've been lucky enough to capture at previous eclipses (see, for example, this album from April 2014: www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/albums/72157644114323234/), and this one from March 2025: www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/albums/72177720324484794/).
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Technical information:
Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S lens on Nikon Z-7 camera body, mounted on a Manfrotto tripod with Kirk Enterprises ball head
30.5 mm focal length
1.6 sec. exposure at f/4, ISO 1000
Processed in Photoshop CS6
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2026 March 3 ~ Total Eclipse of the Moon over Toronto; Michael and the telescope
***************************************************************************
Photographed at Outer Harbour Marina parking lot near Tommy Thompson Park on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
***************************************************************************
The first of two lunar eclipses for 2026 took place in the few hours before sunrise as seen from the eastern half of North America on the morning of March 3. This was a shallow total eclipse, with the Moon passing through the far southern portion of Earth's shadow. The result was a fairly short, 58-minute duration of totality for this eclipse.
Complicating matters for observers in southern Ontario, including Toronto where I live, were three other facts: 1. The Moon would be quite low in the sky at the start of even the partial phase of the eclipse, and extremely low during the total phase. 3. The forecast was for a clear sky in the two days preceding the morning of the eclipse, but for clouds to move in just as the eclipse would be starting. 2. This winter has been very cold and snowy in this part of North America, and the forecast was for an overnight temperature of -9 C. (16 F.).
So especially with the outlook for cloud, I thought that the chance of seeing anything of this eclipse was quite low. But I'm an astronomer, so I had to try!
I got out of bed at 02.30 after about three and a half hours of sleep, packed my gear into the car, and drove the 14 km to the Toronto waterfront to set up and wait for the spectacle to start. When I got there around 03.15 the sky was still clear, and as the partial phase advanced I was able to get some decent photos through the telescope.
But then the predicted cloud started to roll in from the west, making further photography very difficult. most of the resulting images were washed out and soft looking, without the sharply defined lunar features that I've been lucky enough to capture at previous eclipses (see, for example, this album from April 2014: www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/albums/72157644114323234/), and this one from March 2025: www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/albums/72177720324484794/).
_____________________________________________
Technical information:
Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S lens on Nikon Z-7 camera body, mounted on a Manfrotto tripod with Kirk Enterprises ball head
30.5 mm focal length
1.6 sec. exposure at f/4, ISO 1000
Processed in Photoshop CS6
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