WASHINGTON (AFP) – Skygazers with a clear view in North America and Europe were greeted with a celestial treat in the early morning hours Tuesday, 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 showed 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, as there was still residual light deflected towards it by our atmosphere.
Most of this refracted light is 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.
The eclipse was running for three and a half hours, starting with a chunk being slowly eaten out at 0633 GMT and the stage of total eclipse -- when the Moon heads into the "umbra" cast by the Earth -- lasting from 0741 to 0853 GMT. It was to last until 1001 GMT.
