Did you witness Blood Moon !!

Likely you would have watched the spectacle of Lunar eclipse yesterday – full glowing moon, then partially covered and at the time of full eclipse, I thought it would be pitch dark and nothing would be visible !!  (I was wrong though !) 

The longest total lunar eclipse visible from India since 2022 occurred last night and it was  the first time since July 27, 2018, that an entire total lunar eclipse was  observable from all parts of the country.   Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. When the Moon is totally eclipsed by the Earth (a "deep eclipse"), it  takes on a reddish color that is caused by the planet when it completely blocks direct sunlight from reaching the Moon's surface, as the only light that is reflected from the lunar surface is what has been refracted by the Earth's atmosphere. This light appears reddish due to the Rayleigh scattering of blue light, the same reason sunrises and sunsets are more orange than during the day.            

Yesterday,    Sky-watchers across the globe witnessed a total lunar eclipse which turned the full Moon red.  The Blood Moon is visible during a total lunar eclipse. As the earth is placed between the sun and the moon, only some sunlight, filtered from the earth’s atmosphere, reaches the moon. When sunlight collides with the molecules suspended in the air, blue light scatters away easily, and only the red light reaches the moon, making it look red. As the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow, it takes on a deep red hue, creating a striking "Blood Moon" – Astro scientists explained.  

When the moon is passing through the inner, darkest part of the earth’s shadow, called umbra, it appears dimmer. When it passes through the penumbra, or the outer part of the shadow, the dimming can be too small to be noticed prominently. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is safe to watch with the naked eye. 

According to an article in Space.com, the scientists examined accounts from 1100 to 1300 AD, and “linked five dark and two reddish lunar eclipses to major eruptions during the High Medieval Period. Dark lunar eclipses were observable for three to 20 months after an eruption.”

 

While billions watched directly the sight of Earth’s shadow sweeping over the lunar disk, few thousands of Professional photographers and more nos. of amateur were trying to capture with their lenses from across Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe to see and show the distinct phases of the eclipse in exquisite detail.   

 

I had posted on article on lunar eclipse lacing it with two photos taken at around 21.45 hrs (full moon) and  the last two here [eclipsed ones] taken at 22.21 hrs.  When I tried to capture the eclipsed moon at around 11 pm – initially nothing was visible to my eyes – thought was looking at a wrong direction, then as the clouds moved, could sight faintly crescent of moon.   Then changing my Camera settings all the way, could capture these – much better than what I saw with naked eye around 22.55 hours .. .. not exactly a full blood moon but !!!

 
Regards – S. Sampathkumar
8.9.2025