Lunar eclipses are fairly common, but to catch one at dawn…not so much. A few rooftop observers at the National Weather Center were fortunate enough on this morning to witness the spectacle of the copper moon in total eclipse, amidst the growing light of dawn. The reddish glow comes from light passed through Earth’s atmosphere (“sunset light” to us), then reflected off our moon’s surface. The moon set still in totality, the sun directly opposite on the horizon—as physical geometry requires—by which time too much light was present to see it anymore.
Norman, OK (31 Jan 18) Looking WNW
35.1814, -97.434Copper Moon Twilight
Lunar eclipses are fairly common, but to catch one at dawn…not so much. A few rooftop observers at the National Weather Center were fortunate enough on this morning to witness the spectacle of the copper moon in total eclipse, amidst the growing light of dawn. The reddish glow comes from light passed through Earth’s atmosphere (“sunset light” to us), then reflected off our moon’s surface. The moon set still in totality, the sun directly opposite on the horizon—as physical geometry requires—by which time too much light was present to see it anymore.
Norman, OK (31 Jan 18) Looking WNW
35.1814, -97.434