During the total
lunar eclipse of August 28, 2007, the moon was engulfed in
the Earth's dark shadow.
Despite this, it appears quite
bright and colorful. This is
because reddened light of
countless sunrises and sunsets
here on Earth is filtered through our planet's
atmosphere and is bent inward
until it falls on the darkened
moon some 227,033 miles away.
Around the eclipsed moon appear
some of the fainter stars of
Aquarius among which the coppery
orb seems to be suspended.
These are, of course, trillions of miles farther
than the moon, our nearest
celestial neighbor. |