On Tuesday morning, astronomy enthusiasts from Asia, Australia and North America witnessed the Moon slowly become darker until its full eclipse became visible; otherwise known as a blood moon. This event would mark the last total lunar eclipse until 2025.
An appearance of a blood moon occurs when direct sunlight is blocked and its light bent by Earth’s atmosphere; its hue depends on how much dust and clouds exist in its surroundings.
What is a lunar eclipse?
An eclipse occurs when the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow, an event which only occurs a few times each year due to how tilted Earth and Moon orbit each other. When this occurs, light which normally illuminates the Moon is blocked and instead reflected off of atmosphere layers, turning its color reddish-orange instead.
Rayleigh scattering is responsible for this effect; similarly it causes sunrises and sunsets to look more orange when clouds obstruct sunlight from reaching us directly. The intensity of red color depends on where in Earth’s shadow the Moon lies: for instance when in its umbra; otherwise its penumbra may provide some respite from darkness.
Lunar eclipses can be witnessed with just the naked eye from any location in the world with clear views of the Moon’s surface, making them accessible even during night time viewing from cities as well as remote settings.
Lunar eclipses are among the most-watched skywatching events due to their accessibility – they don’t require special glasses or protective equipment! The last total lunar eclipse occurred on Nov 8, 2022 – an impressive Beaver Blood Moon! And another one is scheduled for March 13/14 2025!
Lunar eclipses don’t last as long as solar eclipses, lasting only for several hours at their longest point of totality. But they are easier to witness due to the Moon’s less prominent shadow than that cast by the Sun, plus lunar eclipses are visible across half the world while solar eclipses can only be viewed from narrow strips at either pole of our Earth’s circumference.
NASA offers an interactive tool, Lunar Eclipses, that makes learning about lunar eclipses simple. This free interactive tool displays dates, times and locations of all future lunar eclipses as well as provides details about each event that occurs – such as how they’ll look or what details it provides about the Moon’s surface.
What causes the moon to turn red during an eclipse?
When the moon passes into Earth’s umbra shadow zone, its appearance changes dramatically – its coppery hue earning it the moniker “blood moon.” But why?
Answer: Sunlight interacts with Earth’s atmosphere to alter how it scatters wavelengths of light. Shorter wavelengths like blue are scattered more than longer ones such as red and orange causing the Moon to appear redder than it would without such filtering from Earth’s atmosphere.
At a total lunar eclipse, the Moon enters an umbra and direct sunlight is blocked from reaching its surface directly; however, some light does still reach it indirectly and reflect off of it before passing back through Earth’s atmosphere, producing coppery red hues as the light travels back towards its source.
Even during a partial lunar eclipse when the Moon is not within the umbra, it may still look reddish due to Earth’s shadow falling onto lunar surface, producing red hues due to same effect that causes sunrises and sunsets to produce beautiful reddish skies – this effect also works during lunar eclipse.
At a lunar eclipse, the amount of reddish light reflected off of the Moon depends on how hazy or dusty Earth’s atmosphere is. More dust in the atmosphere means more wavelengths of light are scattered and refracted from reaching us directly. If a lunar eclipse happens shortly after a volcanic eruption, for instance, its appearance could appear darker than usual. To get the best views possible of such an eclipse, choose a spot without filters to view it directly. At its best, lunar eclipses offer stunning views, especially when the Moon passes closest to the center of its umbra and thus emits more reddish light. Enjoy this spectacle! Also don’t forget your protective eyewear as the astronomical community has long voiced its concern regarding improper eyewear use during an eclipse.
How does the moon turn red during an eclipse?
An eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow and turns red, giving rise to what has come to be known as “blood moon.”
One might imagine the Moon going completely dark as soon as it entered Earth’s umbra; however, our planet acts like a giant lens instead: sunlight passing through acts as a lens which bends and refracted onto its surface on the Moon; wavelengths nearer blue-violet ends of spectrum are dispersed more widely compared with wavelengths closer to red ends of spectrum – this phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering is why sunrises and sunsets look oranger during their times of light than during daytime periods.
When the Moon enters Earth’s umbra, its hue begins to change to rusty orange or dark red; this phenomenon can be observed for several hours during a total lunar eclipse, an event which only occurs every 1 1/2 years. Once out of its umbra, however, its red tint slowly dissipates back to whitish once again.
At lunar eclipses, only light filtered through Earth’s atmosphere reaches the Moon, so its appearance will depend on which gases, water droplets and dust particles may be present at that moment in time.
An annual total lunar eclipse is one of the easiest celestial events to witness as its mesmerizing colors give it the name blood moon, copper moon or ruddy moon. Even without special equipment this nighttime phenomenon provides stunning celestial showstoppers!
As the reddened Moon reaches its maximum red hue during an eclipse, it looks as if someone has taken a bite out of its disk. This phenomenon occurs because during a total lunar eclipse the Moon comes closest to Earth, though partial and penumbral eclipses may happen more frequently and do not require special viewing equipment to appreciate.
What is a total lunar eclipse?
An total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes entirely through Earth’s shadow, known as its umbra. Its uncanny red hue comes from sunlight bending or refracted through our atmosphere and reaching its surface after scattering off clouds and creating bright sunrises or sunsets; during a total lunar eclipse this sunlight tends to fall more heavily on its red spectrum, giving rise to this stunning phenomenon.
This lunar eclipse, more commonly referred to as a Blood Moon, will be the last until 2025 and begins Tuesday at 3:02am ET/5:02am PT (UK timezones have now switched back to Greenwich Mean Time), starting at 3:02am ET/5:02am PT or 3:02am ET/5:02am PT respectively (be sure to account for daylight savings when viewing in Europe).
As it enters the penumbra – or outer portion – of an umbra eclipse, its brightness will begin to dim as it enters further and further within. Once within, its apparent diameter will gradually decrease until finally becoming constricted into an umbra, appearing like it’s been swallowed whole and turning coppery red; this part of an eclipse usually lasts approximately two hours.
As soon as the Moon exits the umbra, its brightness will quickly return before entering a less dark shadow known as penumbral shadow again – ultimately leaving this layer and ending the eclipse.
Lunar eclipses are among the easiest celestial events to witness, especially total lunar eclipses. Millions of people can witness these incredible cosmic events every time they occur; for optimum viewing experience on Tuesday morning be sure to set an alarm and check for cloud cover before venturing outdoors – NASA will also stream this event online so check them out here and share this post with your friends so they can join you in watching it too!