Total Lunar Eclipse from Athens, Greece

June 17, 2011

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Photographer
: Kosmas Gazeas
Summary Author: Kosmas Gazeas; Jim Foster

The photomontage above shows the total lunar eclipse sequence of June 15, 2011, as observed from near Athens, Greece. This was the longest such eclipse in 11 years. Totality lasted for 100 minutes -- the greatest eclipse occurred at 20:12:37 UTC (10:12 p.m. Athens time). Because the Moon experiences a wide range of umbral depths during totality, its appearance often varies considerably. As pictured here, it was a deep cherry or sanguine color at greatest eclipse but looked more peach-orange when it entered and exited the umbra. The dark circle represents the umbra and the lighter circle represents the penumbra. Note that this eclipse could not be seen at all in North America.

Photo details: Takahashi FSQ-106 refractor telescope and Canon EOS 30D digital camera. Exposure ranges from 1/500 second before and after eclipse to up to 30 seconds during totality.

Eclipse photo from Tilemachos Athanasiadis and Thalia Traianou