Lunar Eclipse Pictures: See Last Week's Partial Eclipse

Lunar Landing

Photograph by Frank Rumpenhorst, European Pressphoto Agency

Photographer Frank Rumpenhorst positioned himself near the Frankfurt airport in Germany during the deepest part of the eclipse, catching a shot of a landing airplane crossing the face of the moon.

The April 25 partial lunar eclipse was the first of three visible to skywatchers this year. The next one, on May 25, will also be a very shallow eclipse. Only the very outer part of the moon's disk will be clipped by Earth's shadow, making it a challenge to witness with just the naked eye.

Published April 30, 2013

Tracking an Eclipse

Photograph by Tamas Ladanyi, TWAN

The progress of the entire lunar eclipse is documented as the moon rose above the Tihany peninsula (map) near Lake Balaton in Hungary on April 25.

Snapping a photograph every few minutes, photographer Tamas Ladanyi was able to create this composite image of the moon as it glided through Earth's shadow.

Published April 30, 2013

Lunar Factory

Photograph by Henning Kaiser, Picture-Alliance/DPA/AP

An orange-hued orb peeks out from behind a coal factory in Bergheim, Germany (map), during the height of the eclipse, as captured by Henning Kaiser.

While total lunar eclipses do make the moon's disk appear red, partial eclipses rarely change its color. When the moon pushes into the deepest part of Earth's shadow during a total eclipse, light from the sun is refracted through Earth's atmosphere and is projected onto the moon's disk, making it appear red. (Related: "Lunar Eclipse Saturday to Appear Red?")

But if the moon just happens to be near the horizon, as it is in the above image, it can appear stained any color from yellow to orange thanks to air pollution in the Earth's atmosphere. The same light refraction occurs during sunsets—tinting the solar disk red. (See more moon and sunset pictures.)

Published April 30, 2013

Veiled Moon

Photograph by P-M Heden, TWAN

Despite a thin cloud deck brushing across its face, April's partially eclipsed moon shines through in this photo snapped near Stockholm, Sweden.

Only a tiny portion of the moon's northeastern limb was visibly darkened during this partial lunar eclipse—which lasted 27 minutes—before Earth's shadow slipped off the moon's face.

Published April 30, 2013

Moon's Early Hours

Photograph by Patrick Seeger, Picture-Alliance/DPA/AP

Revelers stand silhouetted in front of April's partially eclipsed moon as it rose in the early evening hours above Freiburg, Germany.

Generally, two to four lunar eclipses occur each year. Later in 2013, two more penumbral lunar eclipses will be visible on May 25 and October 18. But skywatchers will have to wait until April 15, 2014, for the next total lunar eclipse, which will be visible across the Americas in the early morning hours. (Learn about eclipses occuring in 2013.)

Published April 30, 2013