Totality! The first two images were exposed about 20 seconds to capture
the vivid colors of this phase. Since the Earth is passing between the
Moon and the Sun, you might expect the moon to vanish completely. But these
ruddy colors are caused by the Earth's atmosphere acting as a lens, bending
the Sun's light and reflecting it onto the surface of the Moon. Our atmosphere
filters out blue light, so only the orange and red colors reach the Moon.
Unlike a solar eclipse, the totality phase of a luanr eclipse lasts a long
time, in this case more than an hour. Many stars were visible near the
Full Moon during this phase through a telescope or binoculars. This
is unusual because normally the Full Moon's light washes out all but the
very brightest stars. In addition, some occultations were visible.
An occultation is when the Moon covers up a star. Many were uncovered during
totality as well. In the last photo, totality has ended (officially at
12:22 am EST Jan. 21st.)
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on going, there's more...