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Explanation: What's happened to the Moon? Within the last day, part of the Moon moved through the Earth's shadow. This happens about once or twice a year, but not every month since the Moon's orbit around the Earth is slightly tilted. Pictured here, the face of a full Hunter's Moon is shown twice from Italy during this partial lunar eclipse. On the left, most of the Moon appears overexposed except for the eclipsed bottom right, which shows some familiar lunar surface details. In contrast, on the right, most of the (same) Moon appears normally exposed, with the exception of the...

Explanation: If the full Moon suddenly faded, what would you see? The answer was recorded in a dramatic time lapse video taken during the total lunar eclipse in 2011 from Tajikistan. During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth moves between the Moon and the Sun, causing the moon to fade dramatically. The Moon never gets completely dark, though, since the Earth's atmosphere refracts some light. As the featured video begins, the scene may appear to be daytime and sunlit, but actually it is a nighttime and lit by the glow of the full Moon. As the Moon becomes eclipsed and...

..... Eastern North America, Central America and northwest South America will see the eclipse underway at sunrise/moonset, while eastern Asia and Australia will see the reverse, with a dramatic eclipse rising at dusk. Catching the eclipsed Moon low to the horizon always offers a great opportunity to nab it along with foreground objects. Northwestern North America, New Zealand and the Pacific will see the see the eclipse in its entirety, with totality occurring very near the zenith for Hawai’i. .....

For the second time in 2022, stargazers will have the opportunity to view a total lunar eclipse on Nov. 8. At least a portion of the phenomenon will be visible throughout eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and North America. The previous total lunar eclipse happened in May. According to Alphonse Sterling, astrophysicist from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, total lunar eclipses occur approximately once every 1.5 years on average. While the Moon has been providing generous eclipse viewing opportunities this year, viewers should take advantage of November’s eclipse because the next total lunar eclipse will not occur...

Total lunar eclipse People in the Americas, Europe and Africa will see the total lunar eclipse during the night of May 15-16, 2022. Plus, on this night, the moon is close: a supermoon. Penumbral eclipse begins at 1:32 UTC on May 16 (9:32 p.m. EDT on May 15). Partial eclipse begins at 2:27 UTC on May 16 (10:27 p.m. EDT on May 15). Totality begins (moon engulfed in Earth’s shadow) at 3:29 UTC on May 16 (11:29 p.m. EDT on May 15). Totality ends at 4:53 UTC on May 16 (12:53 a.m. EDT). Partial eclipse ends at 5:55 UTC on...

Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse: Is it the 1st of 4 supermoons? By Elizabeth Howell published about 6 hours ago Retired astrophysicist Fred Espenak has been observing the moon for about 60 years. Retired NASA eclipse scientist Fred Espenak has been watching the night sky ever since he was eight years old, and plans once again to look up for the forthcoming lunar eclipse Sunday (May 15). After about six decades staring at the sky, the Arizona resident said he still enjoys watching the shifting of the shading as the moon turns red during a total lunar eclipse, going...

The total lunar eclipse will start Sunday, May 15 at 10:27 p.m., according to Mike Narlock, head of Astronomy at Cranbrook Institute of Science. Narlock says the progression to the total lunar eclipse will take a while. The totality portion of the lunar eclipse starts at 11:29 p.m. Sunday and lasts until 12:53 a.m. Monday, May 16. First, this month’s full moon is called the Flower Moon. It’s easy to understand why this moon has that name... The full moon is also a super moon. ... On May 15, the moon will be in the spot of its orbit where...

Pink moon to rise in April The full "pink moon" will be rising in the sky on Saturday, April 16, 2022. The moon will be 98% full on Friday night, April 15, and 99% full on Sunday night, April 17.Photo illustration | Pixabay Pink flowers. Pink Easter bonnets. And pink Peeps marshmallow candy. So why not have a pink moon? Well, there will be a “pink moon” shining in the sky — sort of — when the April moon of 2022 turns full this weekend. Although the moon won’t actually look pink, it carries that colorful nickname because of the...

The night sky has several treats in store for 2022: Expect lunar eclipses, a planetary alignment and meteor showers! The new year brings not one, but two total lunar eclipses -- the first on the night of May 15-16 and the last on Nov. 8... The May total lunar eclipse will be visible throughout the entire contiguous U.S., weather permitting of course. Unfortunately for West Coasters, the eclipse will only be visible briefly. The Western U.S., however, has an advantage for the November lunar eclipse, as the moon will set just before the height of the eclipse on the East...

Explanation: Shaped like a cone tapering into space, the Earth's dark central shadow or umbra has a circular cross-section. It's wider than the Moon at the distance of the Moon's orbit though. But during the lunar eclipse of November 18/19, part of the Moon remained just outside the umbral shadow. The successive pictures in this composite of 5 images from that almost total lunar eclipse were taken over a period of about 1.5 hours. The series is aligned to trace part of the cross-section's circular arc, with the central image at maximum eclipse. It shows a bright, thin sliver of...

Explanation: A photographer in silhouette stands in bright moonlight as the Full Moon rises in this well-planned telephoto image. Of course, the Full Moon is normally the brightest lunar phase. But on November 18/19, the Full Moon's light will be dimmed during a deep partial lunar eclipse seen across much of planet Earth. At maximum eclipse only a few percent of the lunar disk's diameter should remain outside the Earth's dark umbral shadow when the Moon slides close to the shadow's southern edge. Near apogee, the farthest point in its orbit, the Moon's motion will be slow. That should make...

On Nov. 19, a partial lunar eclipse will reward patient sky observers with a view of a subtly changing moon and is a must-see event as it's the last lunar eclipse of the year. The moon may even take on a reddish hue. Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes into the Earth's shadow. In this case, the partial eclipse phase will last 3 hours, 28 minutes and 24 seconds, and the full eclipse for 6 hours and 1 minute, making it the longest partial eclipse in 580 years, according to Indiana's Holcomb Observatory. At maximum eclipse, the moon's face...

Explanation: The reddened shadow of planet Earth plays across the lunar disk in this telescopic image taken on May 26 near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. On that crisp, clear autumn night a Perigee Full Moon slid through the northern edge of the shadow's dark central umbra. Short for a lunar eclipse, its total phase lasted only about 14 minutes. The Earth's shadow was not completely dark though. Instead it was suffused with a faint red light from all the planet's sunsets and sunrises seen from the perspective of an eclipsed Moon, the reddened sunlight scattered by Earth's atmosphere. The...

Explanation: Thunderstorms almost spoiled this view of the spectacular 2011 June 15 total lunar eclipse. Instead, storm clouds parted for 10 minutes during the total eclipse phase and lightning bolts contributed to the dramatic sky. Captured with a 30-second exposure the scene also inspired one of the more memorable titles (thanks to the astrophotographer) in APOD's now 25-year history. Of course, the lightning reference clearly makes sense, and the shadow play of the dark lunar eclipse was widely viewed across planet Earth in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The picture itself, however, was shot from the Greek island of Ikaria...

The total lunar eclipse of May 26, 2021 is the first in nearly two and a half years. It occurs within hours of the closest perigee of the year, making the Moon appear about 7% larger than average. The total phase will be visible near moonset in the western United States and Canada, all of Mexico, most of Central America and Equador, western Peru, and southern Chile and Argentina. Totality occurs just after moonrise along the Asian Pacific Rim. The eclipse can be seen in its entirety in eastern Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii. Time Wednesday,...

What better way to celebrate the start of May than by catching a glimpse of a meteor shower? The 2021 Eta Aquarid meteor shower will peak on the evening of Tuesday, May 4, through the early morning of Wednesday, May 5, according to AccuWeather. The month of May starts off with the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Mercury will be visible in the middle of the month, and some parts of the U.S. will see a super total lunar eclipse on the 26th. What better way to celebrate the start of May than by catching a glimpse of a meteor shower?...

On the night of July 4, the full moon will pass through part of Earth’s shadow, creating a lunar eclipse that will be visible across North America and South America. This will be the first lunar eclipse visible from this part of the world since 2019. People in some places in Africa and western Europe will also be able to see part of the eclipse. The eclipse will be the perfect celestial event for those across the United States staying up late after Independence Day fireworks, as long as clouds don’t interfere. In a penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon passes...

Break out the flashlights. When a full lunar eclipse takes place on the shortest day of the year, the planet may just get awfully dark. The upcoming Dec. 21 full moon -- besides distinguishing itself from the others in 2010 by undergoing a total eclipse -- will also take place on the same date as the solstice (the winter solstice if you live north of the equator, and the summer solstice if you live to the south). Winter solstice is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and marks the official beginning of winter. The sun is...

Several telescopes livestreamed the entire eclipse, and multiple people caught a glimpse of a small flash of light, seeming to come from around Lagrange crater. Because this event was seen by multiple observers separated by thousands of miles, the only conclusion is that something hit the moon, and its impact event was recorded on video. ...Further investigation will be necessary to determine the size of the meteoroid and obtain pictures of its impact crater, but for a basis of comparison, the LCROSS mission plowed a Centaur upper stage (2.2 tons) into the lunar surface at 2.5 km/s. This should have...

"As it turns out, the eclipse was even more special than most observers had noticed, as the Moon was actually struck by a meteorite while everyone was gazing in wonder at its rusty appearance. The meteorite itself wasn’t terribly large, and is estimated to have only been around 22 pounds. Still, its impact was large enough to be spotted by observers as well as the automated MIDAS system, and that’s pretty cool." I caught it as well with my own equipment. The impact flash appears at 1:23:04 in my video at about the 8 o'clock position near the edge of...