Total lunar eclipse: the 2014 Apr15 total lunar eclipse.
The image was taken in the environs of Las Vegas, Nevada where totality started Apr15 12:07 am local time. The partial lunar eclipse started Apr14, 10:58 pm local time.
It was a blood moon.
The Moon is NOT nearly totally dark during a total lunar eclipse because light rays of sunlight are refracted around the Earth by the Earth's atmosphere.
The transmission through the atmosphere preferentially scatters out blue light and makes the transmitted light reddish just as at sunrise and sunset.
How red the Moon becomes depends on atmospheric conditions at the terminator (i.e., the day-night line on the Earth) and the local brightness of the night sky (I think). Near the Las Vegas Strip, the Moon looked only slightly reddish during the 2014 Apr15 total lunar eclipse.
Credit/Permission: ©
Hunter Hopewell, 2014 /
Personal permission.
Image link: Itself.
Local file: local link: lunar_eclipse_2014_04_14_hunter_hopewell.html.
File: Eclipse file:
lunar_eclipse_2014_04_14_hunter_hopewell.html.