Lunar eclipse makes memorable solstice for first time in centuries
Europe sees the beginning stages before moonset and western Asia the end after moonrise
Skygazers with a clear view in North America and Europe were greeted with a celestial treat in the early morning hours yesterday, as a unique total lunar eclipse transformed the moon pink, coppery or even a blood red.
Coinciding eerily with the northern hemisphere’s mid-winter solstice – for the first time in almost four centuries – the eclipse began showing the sun, the earth and its satellite as they directly aligned, with the moon swinging into the cone of shadow cast by its mother planet.
Despite being in shadow, the moon did not become invisible, though, as there was still residual light that was deflected towards it by our atmosphere. Most of this refracted light was in the red part of the spectrum and as a result the moon, seen from earth, turned a reddish, coppery or orange hue, sometimes even brownish.
Nasa’s veteran eclipse expert Fred Espenak explained that while the entire event was visible from North America, Greenland and Iceland, western Europe saw the beginning stages before moonset and western Asia got the later stages after moonrise.
The eclipse ran for three–and–a–half hours, from 6.33 GMT to 10.01 GMT, although the stage of total eclipse – when the moon heads into the “umbra” cast by the earth – lasted from 7.41 to 8.53 GMT.
Two factors affect an eclipse’s colour and brightness, said the US astronomy magazine Sky & Telescope.
“The first is simply how deeply the moon goes into the umbra. The centre of the umbra is much darker than its edges,” it says.
“The other factor is the state of earth’s atmosphere along the sunrise-sunset line.
“If the air is very clear, the eclipse is bright.
“But if a major volcanic eruption has polluted the stratosphere with thin haze, the eclipse will be dark red, ashen grey, or blood-black.”