Lunar Eclipse Question?

Question

I watched the Lunar Eclipse on saturday and couldn't work out why I could not only see the shadow of the earth on the moon but also what looked like the rest of earths shape even though there was nothing for it to be projected onto! It looked as if it wasn't a shadow but actually another planet or moon inbetween the earth and moon (I know that wasn't the case but thats how it appeared) I tried lookin at info on the web but there is no explanation, I wondered if it was some kind of optical illusion or something to do with refraction.

Any Ideas?

It's difficult to explain but I'll try!

What I expected to see was the moon with a shadow of the earth projected onto it, with the shadow stopping at the edge of the moon as there is nothing there for it to be projected onto.

However, the shadow seemed to continue past the moons edge forming the whole shape of the earths shadow, and as the shadow was reddish you could see it against space.

It basically looked like a normal eclipse with the shadow appearing as a star or planet.

Hope that helps, probably not!

Answer 1

I don't quite understand what you are saying, but if you are referring to why the shadow appeared to be a reddish colour and seemed to look like something more than a shadow, this is because the suns light is refracted through the earths atmosphere and bends onto the moon.

Answer 2

What do you mean, the "rest of the Earth's shape"?

Do you mean you thought you could see the continents and oceans? If that's it, it was an optical illusion, you were actually seeing the moon's "seas" and craters in the dim red light refracted through the earth's atmosphere.

Or do you mean there was a darker patch towards the centre of the shadow? That's to be expected, as some light is refracted round the Earth, but as more extreme angles of refraction are needed the light will get redder and dimmer, so the very centre of the Earth's shadow would be darker than towards the edge. Indeed, there will be a cut-off to black where the wavelength light would need to be in order to refract at that angle would go outside the visible spectrum.

====

NB Timbo is incorrect: Earthshine happens at NEW Moon, creating a phenomenon known as "the old Moon in the new Moon's arms". A lunar eclipse happens at FULL Moon. Light can't be reflected from Earth to Moon when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from where the Sun is - which are the conditions for a lunar eclipse.

Answer 3

For Lunar Eclipses the Moon is going into the Earth's Shadow it incredibly is 4 or 5 cases extra advantageous or extra advantageous than the moon. hence totality can final as long as basically approximately 2 hours if it is going applicable in the path of the middle. If it incredibly is on the sting it fairly is as short as a couple of minutes. Now on the photograph voltaic Eclipse the MOON is fairly a HAIR extra advantageous in obvious length from the sunlight. So totality under no circumstances lasts extra advantageous than 2 minutes and the completed eclipse is two hours or much less. whilst the Moon and sunlight are in comparable length Totality can final as low as 10 seconds. whilst the Moon is smaller, you notice a hoop referred to as an Annular eclipse. it fairly is led to via the Moon being in a incredibly pear shaped atypical orbit (no longer a suited Circle) so especially cases the Moon is closer to the Earth than it fairly is at different cases. This impacts the plain length of the moon incredibly. Totality on a Lunar eclipse is a band 1000's of miles huge, totality on a photo voltaic eclipse is a band 2 or 5 miles huge.

Answer 4

I think I can what you are saying.
It was as thought you could see the whole of the earths shadow when only part of it was across the moon.

The brains a very tricky character
If it knows something should be there, but in fact isn't. It tries to fill in the gaps and imagines it to be where you expected it.

I think this is similar to when a partner dies and the remaining partnes sees an actual image of them sitting in their usual chair. The brain can't quite come to terms with the fact something is not where it should be

Also the way optical illusion puzzles work

Answer 5

The effect you saw is known as 'Earth shine', it's caused by light reflected from the Earth illuminating the moon's surface. It causes the moon to appear a dull reddish purple colour, presumeably because that's the colour of the moon's surface.

Answer 6

Perhaps the penumbra of the earth's shadow against the interstellar dust is what you were observing?

Answer 7

Maybe you saw planet X.....

Try doing a search for sumerians planet X .....

Answer 8

The traditional beliefs about bad effect of lunar eclipses are
millenia old. Those who are sensitive para-psychology
influence suffer from it, and others rarely sense it.

Visit these sites:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/166175/total_luna...ipse_coming_saturday.html
(eclipses have traditionally been associated with myths)
http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/~mathelmr/gem-projects/hm/0304-...tuals%20of%20Eclipses.htm
(Rituals of reddish colour Eclipses)
http://www.crystalinks.com/eclipse2.html
(dark magic that controls through illusion)
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/top10_eclipse_030513-5.html
(Myths persist today )
http://au.dir.yahoo.com/science/astronomy/solar_system/pla...earth/moon/lunar_eclipses
http://in.dir.yahoo.com/Science/Astronomy/Solar_System/Pla...n/Lunar_Eclipses/?sort=lf
http://ca.dir.yahoo.com/Science/Astronomy/Solar_System/Pla...arth/Moon/Lunar_Eclipses/
http://asia.dir.yahoo.com/Science/Astronomy/Solar_System/P...n/Lunar_Eclipses/?sort=lf
http://uk.dir.yahoo.com/Science/Astronomy/Solar_System/Pla...n/Lunar_Eclipses/?sort=lf
http://sg.dir.yahoo.com/Science/Astronomy/Solar_System/Pla...arth/Moon/Lunar_Eclipses/
http://dir.yahoo.com/Science/Astronomy/Solar_System/Planets/Earth/Moon/Lunar_Eclipses/
http://starryskies.com/The_sky/events/lunar-2003/eclipse7.html
http://mathforum.org/library/view/11848.html
http://www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse/news/2003-11-10.html
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/L/lunar_eclipse.html
http://www.lunarliving.org/moon/eclipse.shtml
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/other_programs/lunar_eclipse/explore.shtml
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/moon/eclipse.html&text=t
http://www.geocities.com/douglasrana/lunar03.html
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/headline_universe/e...ipse_nov_2003.html&text=t
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6337791/
http://www.khandro.net/calendar_eclipse.htm
(lunar eclipse the effects of actions, positive or negative)
http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/links_legends.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3404517/
(Myths persist today: Myths die hard)
http://www.exploratorium.edu/
(Eclipse myths and stories)
http://edmall.gsfc.nasa.gov/2000invest/eclipse2.html
http://sci2.esa.int/specialevents/eclipse2001/
http://www.mythicalireland.com/astronomy/astrophotos/lunareclipse.html
http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/~mathelmr/gem-projects/hm/0304-1-08-eclipse/
http://www.bibalex.org/eclipse2006/HistoricalObservationsofSolarEclipses.htm
(Solar Eclipses in History and Mythology)

Answer 9

All I know is that it was fab.

Answer 10

Mate, I think you've got too much time on your hands!