Country Living Peach Street Style: Total Lunar Eclipse

How many of you out there got to see the

Total Lunar Eclipse?

I wasn't sure exactly what causes a total lunar eclipse so I did a little bit of research to find out.

Here are a few tidbits of information about a total lunar eclipse.

*Total lunar eclipses are RARE - only 1 in 3 lunar eclipses are total. About 4 to 5 total eclipses can be seen at any place on Earth in a decade.

*The Moon does not have its own light, but shines because its surface reflects the Sun's rays.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth's shadow blocks all the Sun's light from directly reaching the Moon's surface.

*During a total lunar eclipse, the Sun, Earth and Moon form a straight line. The Earth blocks any direct sunlight from reaching the Moon. The Sun is behind the Earth, so the Sun's light casts the Earth's shadow on the Moon. This shadow covers the entire Moon and causes a total lunar eclipse.

I was at work when the total lunar eclipse took place.

I was able to watch most of it.

I didn't have my camera on me to get any pictures of it though.

You can bet I won't let that happen again!

We are fortunate because next year we get 2 more!

The next total lunar eclipses will be on April 4 and then again Sept. 28, 2015.

I'll be ready for them!

How about the Blood Moon?

Did you get to view that?

I left work and watched it the whole way home.

I was hoping that I would get home in time to at least get some

pictures of that!

Do you know why the Moon turns red?

No?

I'll tell you then.

*Even though the Earth completely blocks sunlight from directly reaching the surface of the Moon, the Moon is still visible to the naked eye during a total lunar eclipse. This is because the Earth's atmosphere refracts sunlight and indirectly lights up the Moon's surface. The Earth's atmosphere, removes or blocks parts of the sunlight's spectrum leaving only the longer wavelengths. Because of this, a totally eclipsed Moon usually looks red.

I was able to get home in time to get a couple of pictures of the Blood Moon.

I had to take a LOT of pictures to get any decent ones.

It was the strangest thing. When I zoomed in on the Moon to snap a picture, I could actually see the dust particles floating in the atmosphere on the camera's screen, even though I couldn't see them with the naked eye. I'd snap what I thought was going to be a good picture. But when I reviewed it, it showed 3 Moons! Grrrr!

I thought that I was getting the 3 Moons because I was moving the camera when I clicked the shutter button. So I propped the camera on the car window to keep it steady and I still got 3 moons or it was so distorted! I realized it was the matter floating around in the atmosphere that was causing the distortion.