Skygazers with a clear view in North America and Europe were greeted with a celestial treat early Tuesday, as a unique total lunar eclipse turned the Moon pink, coppery or even a blood red. Coinciding eerily with the northern hemisphere's mid-winter solstice - for the first time in almost four centuries, according to NASA - the eclipse showed the Sun, the Earth and its satellite as they directly aligned, with the Moon swinging into the cone of shadow cast by its mother planet.
Despite being in shadow, the Moon did not become invisible, as there was still residual light deflected towards it by our atmosphere. Most of this refracted light is in the red part of the spectrum and as a result the Moon, seen from Earth, turned a reddish, coppery or orange hue, sometimes even brownish. At 0741 GMT - the official start time of the eclipse - a small crowd stood amazed in a Reykjavik parking lot as the moon appeared bright red in the Icelandic sky.
"We couldn't be happier with the weather here - a clear sky is ideal as you can see. I'm always in awe seeing that big red Moon hanging over us," said 30-year-old Saevar Helgi Bragason, the chairman of the Icelandic Amateur Astronomical Society. The society had set up a telescope for the 30 or so people who braved the bitter cold to observe the Moon and stars.
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