In this collection of photos, the moon is shown during a full lunar eclipse, upper left, and then at various stages as it emerges from the earth's shadow on Sunday, May 15 near Moscow, Idaho. The orange color of the moon is caused by the Moon passing into the shadow of the Earth.
Lunar Eclipse May 16, 2022 Photos: A total lunar eclipse graced the night skies this weekend, providing longer than usual thrills for stargazers across North and South America. The celestial action unfolded on Sunday night into early Monday morning, with the moon bathed in the reflected red and orange hues of Earth’s sunsets and sunrises for about 1 1/2 hours, one of the longest totalities of the decade. It is the first so-called blood moon in a year.
Observers in the eastern half of North America and all of Central and South America had prime seats for the whole show, weather permitting. Partial stages of the eclipse will be visible across Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Left out: Alaska, Asia and Australia.
“This is really an eclipse for the Americas,” said NASA's Noah Petro, a planetary geologist who specializes in the moon.
In this collection of photos, the moon is shown during a full lunar eclipse, upper left, and then at various stages as it emerges from the earth's shadow on Sunday, May 15 near Moscow, Idaho. The orange color of the moon is caused by the Moon passing into the shadow of the Earth.
Chandra Grahan covers the moon as it rises beyond buildings on Sunday in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
A total eclipse occurs when Earth passes directly between the moon and the sun, and casts a shadow on our constant, cosmic companion. The moon will be 225,000 miles (362,000 kilometers) away at the peak of the eclipse — around midnight on the U.S. East Coast.
“This is this gradual, slow, wonderful event that as long as it’s clear where you are, you get to see it,” Petro said.
A lunar eclipse is seen behind a cyclist during the first blood moon of the year, in Irwindale, Calif. on Sunday.
This combination of photos shows the moon in various stages of a total lunar eclipse during the first blood moon of the year in Temple City, Calif.
There’ll be another lengthy total lunar eclipse in November, with Africa and Europe lucking out again, but not the Americas. Then the next one isn’t until 2025.
