Pilot photos/John K. Reed
Where’d the full moon go, and why did it change colors? This is a question people may have been asking themselves Wednesday night. The disappearance of the moon, along with its change in color, was caused by a total lunar eclipse.
A total lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow across the moon’s surface. The moon’s color changes, because the earth’s atmosphere refracts and filters the sun’s light. The change in color varies by the amount of particulates in the atmosphere. (information from www.space.com)
Unfortunately for those who missed the eclipse, the next one is not supposed to occur until the year 2010.