By Brianna Sommer

Upper School Science Teacher Blaise Eitner had his lunar pictures shown in a slideshow before a private screening of the documentary movie “In the Shadow of the Moon.”

Eitner, who has children at John Thomas Dye, was speaking with a fellow parent who had heard that Eitner had been taking astronomical photos and was interested in seeing one of them. The parent was the executive producer for the film “In the Shadow of the Moon,” and asked Eitner if he would be interested in showing his pictures before his film.

The private screening considered a success that the executive producer wants to have the same slideshow before the celebrity screening at Fox Studios.

Eitner has been an amateur backyard astronomer, using just his eyes, since he was given his first telescope at the age of 12. He started taking pictures through a telescope a few months ago.

“I’ve always thought it would be kind of interesting to learn to do astrophotography, but the motivation wasn’t strong enough until a student approached me last year with a “teach the teacher” assignment from her photography class with Mr. O’Malley.”

Eitner was interested in astrophotography and with the help of Briana Kichaven ’08, figured out how to use the camera and develop and print pictures. Eitner continued researching from books and websites to learn how to connect and use the camera with the telescope.

Eitner described his astrophotography as a new learning experience, “Honestly, I still really don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m getting better.”

Eitner plans on continuing to take pictures of a variety of astronomical objects, students and teachers can see his work on display in the lobby of Seaver as part of the “teach the teachers” exhibit.