The moon is seen during a lunar eclipse in Mexico City, Mexico November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Henry RomeroYesterday’s total lunar eclipse was the last one for the next three years. The lunar eclipse has ended and the Moon is no longer in Earth’s shadow. Stargazers looking at the Moon across the world will now be met by a run-of-the-mill full Moon. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth moves in between the Sun and the Moon, partially or completely blocking sunlight from reaching the Moon. This causes a shadow on the Moon’s surface, which is what we see from Earth.
During a total solar eclipse, some sunlight will still reach the Moon. This light will pass through the Earth’s atmosphere, where blue light will be scattered in all directions due to a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering. This allows the redder light to pass through and reflect off the Moon, causing it to appear reddish during the eclipse. You can view the images of the lunar eclipse by scrolling below or clicking through to this link.
The total lunar eclipse is over and we will now have to wait till 2025 to witness the next one. But in the meanwhile, you can still view images of the eclipse in our picture gallery.
This image was also taken in El Salvador during the totality phase of the lunar eclipse.
This image was taken in El Salvador during the totality phase of the lunar eclipse.
This image of the total lunar eclipse was taken in Sydney.
Totality, the phase of the lunar eclipse during which the Moon is completely covered by the Earth’s shadow, has ended. The lunar eclipse is now in its second partial phase and the Earth’s shadow on the Moon will progressively continue to get smaller until 6.19 PM IST when the lunar eclipse will end and we will be greeted by a normal full moon.
This image of the lunar eclipse was taken in Beijing, China.
The below image was taken in Mexico City during the totality phase of the eclipse
The below image of the eclipse was taken in Caracas, Venezuela, before the totality phase.
The total lunar eclipse will continue to be visible with its reddish tinge for close to another half an hour.
The total lunar eclipse has now begun as the Moon is completely covered by the shadow cast by Earth. As you can see, the Moon now appears redder because the light reflecting off it right now is the sunlight that has passed through the Earth’s atmosphere.
The totality of the lunar eclipse, when the Earth’s shadow covers the Moon completely, will begin in a few minutes. Currently, as can be seen in the below image, it appears as if part of the Moon is completely obscured but that is because the bright reflection from the uncovered portion washes out the covered part. The same happens when you view the eclipse with your eyes because of the way your brain processes light, according to NASA scientist Noah Pedro.
But when the total lunar eclipse begins, the entire Moon will seemingly be illuminated by a dull red light. This is because some light from the Sun will still reach the Moon after passing through the Earth’s atmosphere. As this light passes through the atmosphere, the blue wavelengths will scatter in all directions, allowing the redder wavelengths of light to pass through.
The lunar eclipse is well underway with large parts of the Moon already obscured in many parts of the world, as can be seen from the image below.
The lunar eclipse has begun and a partial lunar eclipse is currently visible in parts of North and South America.
According to a statement by the Indian government’s Ministry of Earth Sciences, the eclipse will begin at 2.39 PM IST today. The total lunar eclipse will start at 3.46 PM IST and will go on till 5.12 PM IST. The lunar eclipse will end at 6.19 PM.
By definition, the Sun and the Moon are at opposite ends of the Earth during a lunar eclipse. This means that the Moon will be below the horizon until the Sun sets, leaving a small window for Indian stargazers to witness the eclipse. But don’t worry! You can get a proper view of the eclipse through live streams like the one below from the website Time and Date.
The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California, was catapulted to fame in 1955 when it featured in two important sequences of the film Rebel Without a Cause starring James Dean. According to the Los Angeles Times, this made the observatory an “international emblem of the city” of Los Angeles.
But you don’t need to travel to Los Angeles in order to get a view of the eclipse from the location of the famed observatory. It is hosting a Livestream of the total lunar eclipse on its YouTube page. You can also view the live stream through the window below.
The Moon completes one full rotation around the Earth every month, lining up in the direction of the Sun during the new moon and in the opposite direction of the Sun during a full moon. But if that is the case, why don’t lunar eclipses happen twice every month?
This is because the Moon orbits the Earth with an orbit that is slightly tilted with respect to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. But this tilt remains constant relative to the stars, meaning that it changes relative to the Sun. That means that the Moon gets in the right position to pass through the Earth’s shadow about twice a year, causing a lunar eclipse.
“Beaver moon” is a name for November’s full moon adopted by the Old Farmer’s Almanac. According to the almanack, the name has ties to early Native American, Colonial American and European folklore. But this year, a total lunar eclipse, or “blood moon” happens on the day of the beaver full moon, giving it its soubriquet of “beaver blood moon.”
During a lunar eclipse, the Earth casts a shadow on the Moon. If it is a partial eclipse, we will see part of the Moon covered by the shadow. If it is a total eclipse, like the one today, we will see the Moon appear dimmer and take on a reddish tinge. But what will a lunar eclipse look like for someone on the Moon?
The answer is, it will look exactly like how a solar eclipse looks to us. But instead of the Moon covering the Sun, a view from the Moon will have the Earth covering up the Sun, like in the artist’s impression below.
A total lunar eclipse happens when the Earth gets between the Sun and the Moon and the shadow of the Earth covers the entire Moon. So why does the Moon appear red during it? Well, interestingly, that happens for the same reason why the sky appears blue.
During a total lunar eclipse, not all sunlight gets blocked. Some of the light passes through Earth’s atmosphere to reach the Moon. But when light passes through our atmosphere, blue light gets scattered in all directions due to a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering. Apart from giving our sky its characteristic blue colour, this also means that only the redder wavelengths of light pass through our atmosphere to reach the Moon during a total lunar eclipse. This is why the Moon appears red during a total eclipse.
You don’t really need any special equipment to observe a lunar eclipse but having binoculars or a telescope can give you a better view of the Moon and its red colour during the eclipse. Also, the best viewing conditions can be found in darker locations away from the city lights. In the map below, you can see the parts of the world from which different phases of the eclipse will be visible. The coloured contours mark the edge of the visibility region for different phases.
Are you looking for a view of the eclipse from multiple different international locations? Then, the Virtual Telescope Project’s live stream might be the right one for you. The project is run by astronomer Gianluca Masi. Masi will host the webcast from Ceccano in Italy but it will also feature views from various locations across the world thanks to the project’s collaboration with astrophotographers in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries.
“The Virtual Telescope Project will partner with some great astro-imagers around the globe, to bring to you the stunning beauty of such a unique event. A wonderful example of cooperation through geographical borders,” wrote Masi on the project’s website.
The live stream will begin at 3 PM IST and you can view it on the Virtual Telescope Project’s website or YouTube channel or in the window below.
If the total lunar eclipse is not visible in your area, don’t worry. You can view the eclipse through live streams like the one below. The live stream below is hosted by the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. The observatory played an important role in the history of astronomy. Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930 when he was working at Lowell. Two decades before that, Lowell astronomer V.M Slipher was the first one to detect the expanding nature of the universe.
The Lowell observatory’s live stream of the total lunar eclipse will be hosted by Lowell Historian Kevin Schindler and Moon expert John Compton. The live stream will start at 3 PM IST.
During a total lunar eclipse or a Blood Moon eclipse, the Earth is exactly in the middle of the Moon and Sun, casting a complete shadow over the moon. However, due to Earth's atmosphere, not all of the light going to the Moon is cut off. Due to a physics phenomenon called dispersion, the light hitting the Earth's atmosphere during such an eclipse is split into its various colours, similar to how a prism works.
This dispersion effect bends cooler colours like blue more than warmer colours like red, which are only affected slightly. While the blueish hues are deflected significantly and sent back inside the atmosphere, where they are scattered due to the air molecules, the reddish-hues make it out at a slightly bent angle, allowing these light rays to reach the blocked-out Moon, which now appears with a reddish tint instead of its usual white colour.
A lunar eclipse is a cosmic phenomenon where light to the Moon is cut off due to the Earth positioning itself between the Moon and the Sun. As we all know, the Moon is only visible due to reflected sunlight and is not a source of light by its own. When the Earth comes in between the two solar bodies, the sunlight heading to the Moon is interrupted, casting a shadow on the Moon.
There are partial lunar eclipses, where only part of the sunlight is affected and then there are total lunar eclipses, like the one taking place later today, where the Earth is positioned exactly in between the two bodies. However, instead of going dark completely, total lunar eclipses leave the moon in a faint reddish hue, in a phenomenon called Blood Moon.