images

Total lunar eclipse. July 6 1982.

by

J.Lodriguss/Novapix

Reference

a-lun70-00010

Date

2006-11-07

The Earth's shadow begins to leave the moon, as sunlight creeps slowly back on to one limb at the lower left after the end of totality during the lunar eclipse of July 6, 1982. Although no direct sunlight hits the moon during the total phase of a total lunar eclipse, the moon is visible from sunlight refracted through the Earth's atmosphere during the eclipse. The moon gets its burnt orange color from scattering of blue light from the sun's spectrum in the atmosphere, the same reason the sun appears red at sunset, and the sky is blue.