Eclipses happen in a relatively short time span and the change can be dramatic, therefore they are great candidate for GIF animations.  Below is a sequence of 24 individual photos taken with a Skywatcher 80ED telescope and Canon XTi camera from the February 2008 Lunar Eclipse.

Feb 2008 Lunar Eclipse – Benoit Guertin

To create the GIF animation I used two software packages:

1. Registax – astro-imaging processing software used to align the individual images in order to ensure the Moon remains centered.
2. GIMP – image processing software used to create the GIF animation

In GIMP, GIF animation is done by assigning individual images to a layer.  The animation is therefore build frame-by-frame as it cycles through the layers.  A simple animation tutorial is available to step you through the process.

On the other hand, if you prefer to make a movie, Picasa is capable of creating a video from a series of photos.