Total lunar eclipse: Dramatic 'blood moon' stuns stargazers across US, UK
By : Sandhya
The world's stargazers marveled at a striking red "Blood Moon" during a rare total lunar eclipse that occurred early on Friday morning. The westernmost regions of Europe and Africa, as well as the Americas and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, were able to witness the celestial display.
When the Sun, Earth, and Moon align, our planet casts a massive shadow across its satellite, generating the phenomena. However, the Moon's white brightness was not completely extinguished as the Earth's shadow moved across it; rather, it took on a reddish hue.
According to astronomer Daniel Brown of Nottingham Trent University in Britain, this is because the only sunlight that reaches the Moon is "bent and scattered" when it passes through Earth's atmosphere.