Lunar Eclipse over Rio
Image Credit:
Carlos 'Kiko' Fairbairn
Moonrise doesn't usually look this interesting.
For one thing, the
full moon
is not usually this dark -- but last Friday the
moon rose here as it
simultaneously passed through the shadow of the Earth.
For another thing, the Moon does not usually look
this red -- but
last Friday
it was slightly illuminated by red sunlight preferentially
refracted through the Earth's atmosphere.
Next, the Moon doesn't usually rise next to a planet, but since
Mars was also coincidently
nearly opposite the Sun,
the red planet was visible to the
full moon's upper right.
Finally, from the vantage point of most people, the Moon does not usually rise over
Rio de Janeiro in
Brazil.
Last Friday's sunset eclipse, however, specifically its remarkable
Micro
Blood Moon Total
Lunar Eclipse, was
captured from Rio's
Botofogo Beach, along with an unusually large crowd of interested onlookers.