Just in case you didn't happen to notice... there was a total lunar eclipse tonight. We went out for a few minutes around 11pm to see the shadow as it started moving off of the Moon.
It's a little too cold to stay out for long tonight, but it is kind of cool to see so I dug out an old composite photo that I took a few years ago.
The first shot was taken during totality while the Moon was completely covered by the Earth's shadow. Because the Earth is blocking most of the sunlight, shorter wavelengths of light are scattered. Only the longer orange and red wavelengths can bend around and still reach the Moon which is why you get an orange color cast.
Once the shadow has moved off some, the Moon is much brighter and looks a lot like most other nights. However, the normal phases of the moon are not caused by the Earth's shadow, and that is your random fact for the day.
If you missed out on seeing the eclipse then you'll have to wait a while. While it is possible to have up to 3 total lunar eclipses in one year, we won't have another one until December 2010.
