On May 15th, 2022, the Earth passed between the Sun and the Moon, casting its shadow on the Lunar surface. This image was captured right before the Moon was completely enshrouded in Earth's shadow, during a lucky break in the clouds of an otherwise stormy night.
Down with Covid-19 and with a rainy forecast for that night, I decided to set up my equipment anyway to try and shoot the event, knowing that if I missed it I'd have to wait almost three years for the next opportunity to shoot a Lunar eclipse, in 2025. Fortunately, moments before totality, high speed winds created a few openings in the heavy clouds, revealing an awe-inspiring deep red tinted Moon.
Captured through my rooftop telescope at 1800 mm focal lenght, this image is the result of stacking a high speed burst of 30 frames shot during one of those brief clearings in the clouds. We can see the lunar surface scarred by craters, mountains, and other features that were created during its 4.5 billion year history, offering a glimpse into the distant past and the forces that shaped the Moon into the celestial body we know today.
The reddish color that occurs during eclipses is caused by sunlight being refracted through the Earth's atmosphere, which filters out the shorter, blue wavelengths of light and allows the longer, red wavelengths to pass through and reach the Lunar surface. This reddish light is then reflected back to the Earth, creating the blood-red appearance of the Moon.
