Astronomy Picture of the Day—20180731

Discoverthe cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinatinguniverse is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professionalastronomer.

2018July 30

LunarEclipse over Rio

ImageCredit: Carlos 'Kiko' Fairbairn

Explanation:Moonrise doesn't usually look this interesting. For one thing, the full moon isnot usually this dark -- but last Friday the moon rose here as itsimultaneously passed through the shadow of the Earth. For another thing, theMoon does not usually look this red -- but last Friday it was slightlyilluminated by red sunlight preferentially refracted through the Earth'satmosphere. Next, the Moon doesn't usually rise next to a planet, but sinceMars was also coincidently nearly opposite the Sun, the red planet was visibleto the full moon's upper right. Finally, from the vantage point of most people,the Moon does not usually rise over Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Last Friday'ssunset eclipse, however, specifically its remarkable Micro Blood Moon TotalLunar Eclipse, was captured from Rio's Botofogo Beach, along with an unusuallylarge crowd of interested onlookers.