                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2026 March 1

                    The Moon During a Total Lunar Eclipse
                  Video Credit: Wang Letian & Zhang Jiajie

   Explanation: How does the Moon's appearance change during a total lunar
   eclipse? The featured time-lapse video was digitally processed to keep
   the Moon bright and centered during the 5-hour eclipse of 2018 January
   31. At first the full moon is visible because only a full moon can
   undergo a lunar eclipse. Stars move by in the background because the
   Moon orbits the Earth during the eclipse. The circular shadow of the
   Earth is then seen moving across the Moon. The light blue hue of the
   shadow's edge is related to why Earth's sky is blue, while the deep red
   hue of the shadow's center is related to why the Sun appears red when
   near the horizon. Tomorrow night, people living in Eastern Asia,
   Australia, and much of North America may get to see a Total Blood Moon
   Lunar Eclipse. Here the term blood refers to the (likely) red color of
   a fully eclipsed Moon.

                  Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
                      Tomorrow's picture: Orion's dust
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

