Astronomy Picture of the Day—20190122

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2019 January 22

Total Lunar Eclipse at Moonset

ImageCredit & Copyright: Fred Espenak (MrEclipse.com, TWAN)

Explanation:The Moon slid through Earth's shadow on January 31, 2018 in a total lunareclipse. In this time-lapse sequence of that eclipse from Portal, Arizona, USA,the partial eclipse starts with the Moon high in the western sky. The eclipsetotal phase lasted about 76 minutes, but totality ended after the dark,reddened Moon set below the horizon. The upcoming total lunar eclipse, on thenight of January 20/21, will be better placed for skygazers across theAmericas, though. There, all 62 minutes of the total phase, when the Moon iscompletely immersed in Earth's dark umbral shadow, will take place with theMoon above the horizon. Watch it if you can. The next total lunar eclipsevisible from anywhere on planet Earth won't take place until May 26, 2021, andthen the total eclipse will last a mere 15 minutes.