The lunar eclipse earlier this month, on May 16th, has been beautifully captured by reader, David Oldham, who was visiting the Algarve at the time.
David tells us "I spent the night out under the stars (and frustratingly lots of clouds as well), but managed to capture photos on and off as they moon popped out from behind the clouds from time to time."
According to the Lisbon Astronomical Observatory (OAL), the moon began to enter the semi-shadow of the Earth at 2:31 am, and from that moment it “gradually darkened, before then, at 3:28 am, the moon entered the Earth’s shadow, giving it more reddish-brown hues."
The beginning of the total eclipse occured at 4:29 am, when the moon was completely inside the shadow cone over the entire Earth.
Lisbon Astronomical Observatory reported that “the maximum eclipse occured at 5:12 am when the moon is at the center of the Earth’s shadow. The moment of the full moon occured only two minutes later at 5:14 am. At 5:54 am the total eclipse was ending, meaning the moon began to leave the suns shadow Finally, at 7:52 am the moon left the semi-shadow to completely return to its usual color, but by this time it was already back below the horizon."
The next total lunar eclipse will occur on November 8th, 2022.
Thank you David! Stunning work!
Photo by David Oldham
