The sky was clear and the early morning weather chilly for the beautiful total lunar eclipse of October 8, 2014.

Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA) members watched the event from around the Northeast Ohio Area and in one case, from another state while on vacation. The Mapleside Farms parking lot in Brunswick was a popular gathering place. The restaurant and fruit market is perched on the eastern rim of the expansive Columbia River valley affording the most distant horizon, most open sky locally available; the eclipse reached totality with the Moon low in the west – near moonset/sunrise – so visibility low to the horizon was important!

CAA President Bill Murmann reported two club members, true early-birds, arrived at the lot at 3:30 AM! As the eclipse progressed others, including Murmann, arrived.

He wrote, “There were about 20 to 25 cars in the parking lot, including two police cars. The police were also there to see the eclipse and enjoyed the view through {a} telescope. Other folks seemed to be mostly photography buffs and naked-eye observers.”

The eclipse’s darkening of the sky afforded views that might otherwise have been missed. “Winter constellations were overhead, including Orion and the Pleiades, etc.,” Murmann wrote. “As the the Earth’s shadow gradually covered the full Moon, several faint stars and Uranus became visible around the Moon. Uranus was at about 10 o’clock, while the stars 96 Piscium and HIP 3869 were at 2 and 5-o-clock, respectively.”

Skywatchers now await a partial solar eclipse — an event naturally paired with lunar eclipses — hoping for clear skies the afternoon and evening of October 23. After all, why not have a second show when everything’s already lined up?