BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy 2015 total lunar eclipse - now past

For anybody who hasn't marked it on their calendar, a reminder that at this time next week you're not far off what could be a fantastic lunar eclipse. The Harvest Moon will be at lunar perigee, i.e., its closest to Earth, so given a clear sky, it should be quite a sight. It's also a long totality so you'll have a good chance of seeing it.

The color is unpredictable. If Earth blocked all the sunlight, of course we wouldn't see the Moon at all. However some light gets to the Moon through our atmosphere, and that light is reddish. This is why the Moon may look red or brown. However the exact color also depends on the state of the atmosphere in terms of dust and chemical pollutants.

Fred Espenak photographed a total lunar eclipse in December 1982. It was a very dark eclipse because of dust from the Mexican volcano El Chichon. The dust in the upper atmosphere blocked most of the sunlight.

Remember the lunar eclipse Sunday night (or early Monday morning in Europe). Space.com thinks if you're watching with friends or having an eclipse party that you might want some eclipse-themed cocktails.

Here's a video showing how to make them. They look yummy, but I will not be indulging. Totality will be between about 3-4 a.m. in my time zone. And that is not the Happy Hour in my view.

If you're not sure if and when tonight's lunar eclipse is visible - weather permitting! - in your city, Time and Date will tell you. You can look up your nearest city.

Thanks for that Mona!

Lovely lunar eclipse early this morning. It coincided - appropriately - with the Chinese Moon Festival. What a treat for those celebrating it who were also able to see the eclipse.

It was darker than I expected, but an atmospheric scientist says it was normal for it to be darker. This is because the Moon was at perigee (closest to us in its orbit), so it was deeper into the Earth's shadow.

The night was mild and clear here. I was surprised to see Orion. But then I'm not usually up at 4.00 a.m. Sirius was so bright and twinkly, it was probably upping the number of UFO reports.

Great GIF animation of the lunar eclipse by Joel Arnold. Takes you from the uneclipsed Moon to the total eclipse and back again as the Moon comes out of Earth's shadow. All condensed to several seconds. Whew!

Here is a composite image showing the whole lunar eclipse, as taken by Mike Mezeul. It's a superb piece of work, setting the eclipse against a city skyline, with the change in the Moon's color is very effectively shown.

I thought it was about time I changed the name of this thread! Yes the "blood moon", the fourth of the tetrad, has now passed. And the world still seems to be here despite the warnings of doom. Rather like the nothing that happened on the 2012 winter solstice. (Does anyone even remember all the dire internet warnings during 2012?)

There isn't another total lunar eclipse now until January 2018. But I'm still coming across some really great pictures of this one, which I'll share with you when I find the links.

Those are some great pictures Mona.

Ya, so how many "end of the world" prophecies have we survived now? I'm counting four (that's going back to New Year's Eve 1999).

I love eclipses - in fact, I just love any astronomical event. It reminds me of how small we are, yet we are still a part of this Universe. There is a rhythm to it all.

I seem to miss the majority of the eclipses. And I told my son something similar ... I'm 46 years old and the world was supposed to have ended at least 30 times so far in my lifetime ... and we're *still* here! lol

It's sheer pandemonium!