Blood Moon, A Total Lunar Eclipse

Total Lunar Eclipse as seen from Alaska's Skies

Photo from Jim Keen [dropcap]O[/dropcap]n April 4, 2015 the skies of North America, South America, Asia, and some parts of Australia (the night side of the earth at the time) were witness a total lunar eclipse. This eclipse was 3rd in a series of blood moon eclipses, known to astronomers as the lunar tetrad. A tetrad is a series of 4 total lunar eclipses in a row, with no partial eclipses in-between, they are also separated equally by six lunar months or six full moons.  In this series, we have been able to see some that have lasted longer than an hour but this eclipse lasted a mere 4 minutes and 44 (+/-) seconds, making it the shortest eclipse to be witnessed this century.  The next showing of the blood moon is likely to be October 27/28th the same night as the "Hunter's Moon". An eclipse meaning; to obscure happens when the sun, Earth, and moon form a straight line with earth being the center. When the Earth passes between the sun and moon the moon is then obscured by Earth's shadow, when this occurs we are able to enjoy a spectacular event! The moon earns the name "blood moon" because of the deep or burnt-orange hue it takes on as the event unfolds.  As the moon migrates into the earth's shadow and the eclipse begins we also see the reddish glow or "blood moon" this is caused by the atmosphere filtering out the blue light from the sun. Several of our readers were able to capture this event as it was seen in our Alaskan skies. Many people around the state were unable to see the celestial dance due to cloud cover or snow but those that were lucky to have clear visibility were able to capture some amazing images!  They are gracious enough to share their photography with us! Photo From Matt Skinner at Lights Out Photography Ehlers Alaskan Photography Photo From Jeff Ehlers, in the Greater Wasilla Area The Blood Moon From Alaska Photo From Debbie Mumma You can find more photo's of Alaska and the wonder in the skies on Jeff Ehlers' Facebook Page: Ehlers Alaskan Photography, or more goodness from Matt Skinner at Lights Out Photography's Facebook Page .