It was a neat experience. It never went completely dark. As the eclipse progressed to its climax the moon got progressively dimmer... and turned a rust red. Parts of it were usually super dark (but still visible) while others were still easily visible. My pictures didn't come out very well.... I couldn't zoom in enough to get a decent picture... most of them just look like half a glowing dot ... no detail whatsoever... but it was cool while it lasted. I went out around 3am to see the end of it and the sky had gone from immaculately clear to a sheet of clouds.
it was supposedly the first time in 400 years that there was a lunar eclipse on the winter solstice.
Yah, I missed it. I got to see the moon enter the penumbra, but heavy clouds rolled in and I missed the fun part.
why was the moon orange?
During a lunar eclipse the earth is positioned directly between the sun and the moon. The light that hits the moon is refracted through the earth's atmosphere. This causes a tinting of the light (to keep it non-technical) due to both gravity as well as atmospheric conditions.
