Colorful Lunar Eclipse
Lunar eclipses are supposed to be red. Yesterday's eclipse had an extra dash of turquoise. "The colors on this eclipsed moon were more varied and vivid than any in memory -- maybe because it stayed so close to the edge of the shadow for the duration of the eclipse," reports astronomy professor Jimmy Westlake, who sends this picture from Stagecoach, Colorado:
"Nearly every color of the rainbow appeared on the Moon just before the end of totality," he says.
Atmospheric scientist Richard Keen of the University of Colorado explains the colors: "During a lunar eclipse, most of the light illuminating the Moon passes through Earth's stratosphere where it is reddened by scattering. However, light passing through the upper stratosphere penetrates the ozone layer, which absorbs red light and actually makes the passing light ray bluer." This can be seen, he says, as a soft blue fringe around the red core of Earth's shadow--colors which are reflected from the surface of the Moon.
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