Into the Shadow
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Laszlo Francsics
On January 21, 2019 moonwatchers on planet Earth saw a
total lunar eclipse.
In 35 frames this composite image follows the Moon that night as
it crossed into
Earth's dark umbral shadow.
Taken 3 minutes apart, they almost melt together in a continuous screen
that captures the dark colors within the shadow itself and the northern
curve of the shadow's edge.
Sunlight scattered by the atmosphere into the shadow causes the
lunar surface to appear reddened during totality (left),
but close to the umbra's edge, the limb of the eclipsed Moon shows a
remarkable blue hue.
The blue eclipsed moonlight originates as rays of sunlight pass through layers
high in Earth's upper stratosphere, colored by ozone that scatters red light
and transmits blue.
The Moon's next crossing into Earth's umbral shadow, will be
on
May 26, 2021.