First it was billed as the lunar astronomical event of the year, a full super-moon, blood-moon lunar eclipse. Then the forecasters told of doom and gloom as all of Southern Australia was to be covered by spectacle smothering wet blanket of high altitude cloud.

We canceled our planned trip to a favorite dark sky lookout and settled in for an unseasonably cold summer evening.

For most of the evening I looked outside for a peek only to see a white smoldering glow behind the clouds. Then just before midnight and just before the zenith of the eclipse I caught a glimpse. To cut a short story even shorter I raced to get my camera setup and watched the few glimpses of the moon through the high level cloud until the sun caught the upper right edge leaving a blood-moon underbelly.

Then it was all back behind cloud again.

Photo: Robert Rath, ‘As The Blood Drains Away ‘, 10s f11.8 ISO640 600mm