Subj : Daily APOD Report
To   : All
From : Alan Ianson
Date : Tue Mar 25 2025 09:35:30

                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2025 March 25
    A developing total lunar eclipse is shown in three frames. At the top
     part of the uneclipsed Moon is visible with a distinctive blue band
     separating it from the rest of the reddened Moon. The middle frame
    shows a mostly reddened Moon with a the blue band just visible on the
   upper right, while the lowest frame shows an entirely eclipsed moon all
      in red. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                          A Blue Banded Blood Moon
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Zixiong Jin

   Explanation: What causes a blue band to cross the Moon during a lunar
   eclipse? The blue band is real but usually quite hard to see. The
   featured HDR image of last week's lunar eclipse, however -- taken from
   Norman, Oklahoma (USA) -- has been digitally processed to exaggerate
   the colors. The gray color on the upper right of the top lunar image is
   the Moon's natural color, directly illuminated by sunlight. The lower
   parts of the Moon on all three images are not directly lit by the Sun
   since it is being eclipsed -- it is in the Earth's shadow. It is
   faintly lit, though, by sunlight that has passed deep through Earth's
   atmosphere. This part of the Moon is red -- and called a blood Moon --
   for the same reason that Earth's sunsets are red: because air scatters
   away more blue light than red. The unusual purple-blue band visible on
   the upper right of the top and middle images is different -- its color
   is augmented by sunlight that has passed high through Earth's
   atmosphere, where red light is better absorbed by ozone than blue.

     Celestial Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
                                 (post 1995)
                      Tomorrow's picture: star factory
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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