Last night the clouds cleared and we watched the total lunar eclipse develop and the moon turning red. As it developed the crescent moon was displayed as a hat rather than the more normal vertical alignment. The moon turned red around 8pm, at a time the kids could watch after we had celebrated Elizabeth's birthday with glow sticks and ice cream.
Science geeks read on.
It glows a warm red because of the dust particles from pollution, bushfires and volcanoes in the atmosphere, which filter out the blue light.
The moon doesn't vanish as the sun does during a total solar eclipse, thanks to the geometry of Earth, the sun and the moon in relation to one another.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon moves into the shadow of Earth. The moon passes through Earth's main dark, circular shadow, the "umbra". It then moves through a lighter region of shadow, the "penumbra", surrounding the umbra.
Unless the moon's edge is very close to the umbra, it's difficult to notice any changes or dimming of the moon's disc because it still receives some direct sunlight.
Beautiful.
Thanks Knowledgable Astronomer Types from the Australian
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