Partial Lunar Eclipse Turns the Moon Blood-Red for Skywatchers Worldwide

Skywatchers around the world observed a partial lunar eclipse overnight on August 27-28, as Earth passed between the sun and the moon and cast its shadow across the full moon, known this month as the "Sturgeon Moon." The partial phase of the eclipse began at 10:33 p.m. EDT on August 27, or 0233 GMT on August 28.

At its peak, Earth's umbra, the darkest part of its shadow, covered 96% of the lunar disk, leaving only a thin crescent exposed to direct sunlight. The shadowed portion of the moon turned a deep red colour, an effect produced by Rayleigh scattering, the same process that scatters blue light in Earth's sky, as sunlight filtered through Earth's atmosphere and lit the moon with reddened light.

Photographers captured the eclipse from locations including Hungary, Greece, Italy and the United States. In one image from Athens, Earth's curved shadow was visible crossing the lunar disk, the same evidence of Earth's spherical shape that ancient Greek philosophers used more than 2,000 years ago.