Haunting footage from two timelapse videos shows the darkening moon.
The Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse from May 15-16 saw the moon disappear into Earth’s deep shadow, upon which refracted light from our atmosphere fell to the surface. In full phase, this produced a strange red color.
The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles was among the institutions that hosted live streams of the event. A timelapse from the observatory, which thankfully had good weather and little smog, shows a tawny red moon glowing like a ghost above the City of Angels.
Coincidentally, the eclipse occurred just one day after the 87th anniversary of Griffith’s dedication and grand opening. The observatory paid tribute to the occasion in a Tweeter May 14. Griffith is best known today for his public engagement and education with Californians and viewers of their webcasts.
Related: Stunning photos of the 2022 Super Flower Blood Moon
The US National Gemini Office also took advantage of the sky show, which captured the eclipsed moon in an all-sky camera, which sports a fisheye lens to maximize meteor visibility. This sequence is in black and white, but the eclipse cannot be missed. Once the moon passes through the shadow of our planet, its brightness decreases so much that you can see the much fainter band of the Milky Way, our galaxy.
“Note the very strong drop in brightness between 12 and 17 seconds”, specifies the office wrote on Twitter Monday (May 16). The view was taken near the 8.1-meter Gemini Observatory South Telescope atop Cerro Pachon in Chile; his partner is Gemini North atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
The lunar eclipse, the first of 2022 and with the longest total phase in 33 years, was visible in its entirety (weather permitting) from the Americas, West Africa and Europe.
The next full lunar eclipse will occur on November 8, peaking in the Pacific Ocean region and visible to skywatchers in the western United States, eastern Asia, and Australia.
If you’re hoping to photograph the moon or want to prepare your gear for a total lunar eclipse, check out our best cameras for astrophotography and our best lenses for astrophotography. Read our guides on how to photograph a lunar eclipse, as well as how to photograph the moon with a camera for some helpful tips for planning your lunar photoshoot.
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