And let me tell you, it was quite a surprise.
First, I actually thought that the setting Sun was illuminating a satellite dish on the house - but then I realized that the size of it was too huge for even that.
I have never in my live seen such a huge moon. I tried to take some pics of it - but I don't know yet how well they came out, and I really need to adjust them a little bit (or, at least try to adjust them).
Thus the photos I'm going to show you today were not made by me.
For those who don't know what a penumbral lunar eclipse is (I am ashamed that I didn't know what it was until today either, cause I've never seen one before), it's when the Moon travels through the much fainter, outer part of the Earth's shadow.
This happens when the Earth moves between the Sun and Moon, but they aren't quite in a straight line.
While this happens the Moon receives some direct light from the Sun, but the Earth obscures some of the Sun. (I'm guessing this means that if you were on the Moon right now, you would witness a solar eclipse).
Today's lunar eclipse was the last one for the year - there were actually only two in total this year, so it's not too much - or too common.
It is also one of four in a short series of lunar eclipses. This means that the same thing I saw today will repeat itself in 12 lunations - a term that means 354 days.
But here's a cool thing.
The last time you could see a penumbral lunar eclipse was in 2009 July 7. And the next time you'll be again able to witness it will be in 2013 May 25.
Any other eclipse you might have seen since 2009 July 7 was either a total, either just partial.
Anyways, I just had to share this cool little thing with you guys, since we were so excited when we realized it's actually the Moon.
As you can see it also has a weird orange color to it too, so this might explain why I thought that the setting Sun was casting its light on an item. Which, of course wasn't too far from the truth.
Did anyone of you guys also witness this today - or any other time before? Did it ever take you by surprise?
I have to admit that every time I see ANY kind of eclipse it kinda makes me excited... What about you?
