The Total Lunar Eclipse of January 20, 2000

Phoenix, Arizona, January 20, 2000

This 4-hour wide-angle exposure captures the entire sequence of a lunar eclipse, as the moon rises into the night sky and passes through the earth's shadow.

• For one thing, it emphasizes the dramatic change in brightness as the moon goes from full to eclipsed, then back to full.
  
• We also see that the moonlight is reddened -- since during the eclipse it travels indirectly from the sun to the moon through earth's atmosphere.
  
• Finally, we notice that the moon's path appears curved -- this part of its orbit is north of the celestial equator, making it describe a broad arc around the north celestial pole as the earth turns.
  

I took this photo from my back yard looking over my neighbor's house. Passing thin clouds -- lit by moonlight and city lights -- make the sky appear gray.

This photograph appeared on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day site on October 13, 2000.

Date: January 20, 2000
Time: 7:45pm to 11:45pm MST
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Camera: Olympus OM-1 on fixed tripod
Film: Kodak Elite Chrome 100 slide
Focal length: 24 mm
Aperture: f/16 with polarizing filter
Exposure time: 4 hours
Scanned with Nikon Coolscan LS-10E