HomeboyAstronomy.Com was created in order to serve amateur astronomers and those interested in astronomy. I have been writing this blog now for 6 months and I have received a number of emails saying much kind words about this blog. Just few days ago I received a very positive feedback from Frankie, an Englishwoman running a guest house (www.RivendellGuesthouse.fi) in Finland. My total moon eclipse article was very helpful for Frankie and therefore she decided to write me email. I am very glad to receive such an encouraging email. Receiving this kind of feedback really motivates me to write daily articles. Thank you Frankie and thank you all the others who have provided feedback for Homeboy’s Astronomy Blog! It is my pleasure to serve You with my humble blog!

Below is the email from Frankie. I asked Frankie if I could publish her email and I got her permission.

Hello Marko

My name is Frankie Holman; I am an Englishwoman with a B&B Guesthouse in Kaskö, plus a new interest in astrology.

I was browsing the Internet for information about the Lunar Eclipse of 21.2.2008 and happened upon your page at Homeboy Astronomy.Com. May I thank you for taking the trouble to get that together, it was so helpful to me.

Other sites told me different times for the Lunar Eclipse which I did not understand, nor did they apply to me here in Finland, but yours was most relevant. I did not know how to find the Lunar Eclipse times for Kaskö so I used your Helsinki times as a guide, and stayed up to watch the first half of this cycle. I wonder how you fared?

I had not planned to stay up moon-watching, and I got tired when it went dark so then I had to go to bed. I was observing by naked eye only, and I am a bit short-sighted so my glasses were not too much help. When the sky was clear and I opened up the window the brightness of the moon gave me distorted images all around it. However, when there was thin cloud in front then the glare was reduced and I could see the shape of the growing shadow better. Strange isn’t it, how the cloud cover helped me there?

When the eclipse was total and the moon was obscured then I saw no more. My eyes could not make out the dark shadow against the sky. I waited and waited to see something more, but I had no clock so couldn’t estimate the time and how it should be progressing. Also by then I believe the clouds got much thicker when the wind

direction changed (and I could then smell the pulp mill!) so I decided I’d probably not see much more anyway and so went back to bed.

This is my first ever viewing of a Lunar Eclipse and I thank you for that opportunity. I did see a Solar Eclipse in the UK about 10 years ago through dark glasses and using a card to catch the shadow.

I am a Druid in training and now at the point of studying the planets, the stars, our sun and our moon, so if you have any other information for a complete beginner I would be happy to correspond more with you. I particularly liked those 3 sky scenes on your page. When I clicked on them and they became large, it was fascinating to see what constellations were in the sky too, and where, at the different times. If you can help me, I would like to see more things like that.

I am also interested in my birth chart and the positions of the planets etc when I was born and their influences in my day to day life.

And so, to conclude, I would be interested also to hear about your interest in astronomy/astrology.

With best wishes,

Frankie

www.RivendellGuesthouse.fi