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Credit: Sebastien Gauthier  
  
  
Explanation:
Does this look familiar?  
  
Red and orange hues haunting the face of the  
Moon might remind you of the  
October 27th total lunar eclipse,  
but the picture is actually a montage of images from a similar lunar  
spectacle in May of 2003.  
  
Created from exposures taken at intervals of 8.5 minutes  
during the total eclipse phase, the midpoint of the eclipse  
corresponds to the central exposure.  
  
The play of light across  
the lunar surface  
nicely demonstrates that  
the Earth's  
shadow is not uniformly dark as it extends into space.  
  
In fact, lunar maria and montes  
are still visible in the dimmed,  
reddened sunlight scattered into the cone-shaped shadow region,  
or umbra, by the atmosphere.  
  
Still, while processing the pictures into this composite image,  
astronomer Sebastien Gauthier was reminded of another  
haunting  
orange face.  
  
Have a safe and happy Halloween!  
  
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: lunar eclipse
Publications with words: lunar eclipse
See also:

