Lunar Eclipse Pictures: See Wednesday's Red Moon Rising

First Bitten

Photograph by Nikhil Sharma, My Shot

Earth's shadow starts to take a "bite" out of the full moon during the June 15 total lunar eclipse, as seen from Lucknow, India. (Take a moon myths and mysteries quiz.)

From Indonesia to New Zealand, viewers saw the moon's face slowly eaten away by the initial stages of the lunar eclipse just before the moon set on June 16. Except for northern Scotland and Scandinavia, most of Europe as well as eastern South America and western Africa saw totality get underway around local moonrise.

The best locations for viewing the entire eclipse were eastern Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and the western tip of Australia, according to Burress.

This celestial event wasn't visible from North America, unfortunately for Canadian, Mexican, and U.S. eclipse hunters, who will have to wait until December 10, when western parts of the continent will be treated to the next lunar eclipse.

Published June 15, 2011

Eclipse Over Kiev

Photograph by Sergey Dolzhenko, European Pressphoto Agency

A bridge over the Dnieper River in Ukraine seems to point the way toward a partial lunar eclipse on June 15. During the event, the moon eventually became completely engulfed in Earth's shadow.

Because of the tilt of the moon's orbit around Earth, the full moon usually passes slightly above or below Earth's cone-shaped shadow, so no lunar eclipse occurs. Sometimes, however, the geometry is just right for the full moon to cross Earth's orbital plane. As all three bodies line up, the moon passes through Earth's shadow and we see a lunar eclipse.

Partial eclipses happen when the moon grazes Earth's shadow, while total eclipses occur when the whole moon passes through the shadow.

Published June 15, 2011

Rusty Moon

Photograph by Aamir Qureshi, AFP/Getty Images

The almost fully eclipsed moon took on a rusty orange hue in the skies over Islamabad, Pakistan, on June 16.

The most spectacular and least predictable part of the eclipse is the color the lunar orb will take on during totality, Burress said. (See pictures of a 2010 total lunar eclipse.)

"The redness of the moon during totality depends partly on global atmospheric conditions," Burress said. That's because the light we see coming from the moon is actually reflected sunlight.

During a total lunar eclipse, Earth blocks the pure white, direct light from the sun. But some indirect light passing through Earth's atmosphere still manages to reach the moon.

Since dust and gases in Earth's atmosphere filter blue wavelengths from sunlight, the remaining light is reddened. The moon will therefore appear to change from brilliant silver to between bright orange and blood red during a lunar eclipse.

Published June 15, 2011

Red Moon Over Egg Castle

Photograph by Ciro Fusco, European Pressphoto Agency

A red moon rises over Castel dell Ovo—or Egg Castle—in Italy during the June 15 total lunar eclipse.

Thanks to the SLOOH "space camera," a robotic telescope in the Canary Islands, online sky-watchers around the world were able to witness the total lunar eclipse via Google's YouTube video site.

(Submit your June 15 lunar eclipse pictures and we may run them on National Geographic News. Be sure to use the word "eclipse.")

Published June 15, 2011