A total lunar eclipse that resulted in a so-called “blood moon” appearing in the night sky between March 13 and 14 resulted in some spectacular images.
The total lunar eclipse was viewed in all 50 states, in addition to Central and South America.
The moon appeared to be a rusty, red color for a period of time during the night in the first total lunar eclipse since November 2022. A total lunar eclipse happens when the Earth prohibits sunlight from hitting the full moon because all three are virtually in a straight line, with the Earth in the center. This particular eclipse is also called a “blood moon” because of the red color the moon exhibits.
“Lunar eclipse is if you’re on the side of the Earth that’s facing the full moon, you will see the eclipse. The side of the Earth, so, in that sense, it’s not rare. (We) get one every couple of years,” astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson said March 14 on TODAY.
Tyson also explained just how the moon turns the shade of red it does.
“It’s sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere leaking into our shadow and those are sunset colors on the moon,” he said.
NASA describes a lunar eclipse as when the moon “appears red or orange because any sunlight that’s not blocked by our planet is filtered through a thick slice of Earth’s atmosphere on its way to the lunar surface,” according to its website.
