Dark Lunar Eclipse
Credit & Copyright:
Martin Pugh
The Moon passed close to the center of Earth's shadow
on August 28th.
Seen best by skywatchers in
western North America, and the Pacific region, the resulting total
lunar eclipse was a dark one, lasting about 90 minutes.
In this telescopic image taken near mid totality from
Yass,
NSW Australia, the 85 kilometer wide ray crater Tycho lies near
the top right of the shadowed lunar surface.
Of course, even
during a total lunar eclipse,the Moon
is not completely dark.
Instead the Moon remains visible during totality, reflecting
reddened light filtering into the Earth's shadow.
The light comes from all the sunsets and
sunrises, as seen from the
lunar perspective,
around the edges of a silhouetted Earth.