Curved 2

A Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. This can only occur on the night of a full Moon and when the Sun, Earth and Moon are very closely aligned. A Total Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Moon falls entirely within the Earth's Umbra – the innermost and darkest part of its shadow.

The Earth’s atmosphere refracts the Sun's white light in such a way that the shorter wavelengths of light, the Greens through to the Purples, are scattered away more strongly than the longer wavelengths at the redder end of the spectrum. The Moon passes through this faint remaining red light, giving it a stunning reddish colour cast.

This sequence starts at the bottom right just after Sunset, when the Moon was still yellow and distorted through the denser part of the Earth’s atmosphere. It shows the Earth’s shadow increasing on the Moon’s surface through a thin crescent to Total Eclipse. The red Moon then slowly exits the Earth’s shadow, until it is a bright Full Moon again. The images were then carefully aligned, and this composition was created to show how the Moon rose through the sky, beginning at the Eastern horizon and arcing high through the night towards the North.