The sky was fairly clear Sunday to observe the rare celestial event of a lunar eclipse with a so-called “supermoon.”
The last eclipse, such as this one, occurred in 1982 and will not be seen again until 2033.
It all started with a full moon and then the planet Earth cast its shadow, giving it an orange glow. It is referred to as a “supermoon” or “blood moon” because it appears bigger and brighter than usual as it reaches the point in its orbit that is closest to Earth. Photos were taken in Marina del Rey, starting about 7 pm Sunday.
This from BBC News, Science and Environment, explains the color:
As the full Moon moves into our planet’s shadow, it dims dramatically but usually remains visible, lit by sunlight that passes through the Earth’s atmosphere.
As this light travels through our planet’s gaseous envelope, the green to violet portions get filtered out more than the red portion, with the result that light reaching the lunar surface is predominantly red in colour.
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