                        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 15

                               Tololo Totality
   Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek/CTIO (Cerro Tololo Observatory)
                             /AURA/NSF/ NOIRLab

   Explanation: On March 14 the Moon was Full. In an appropriate
   celebration of Pi day, that put the Moon 3.14 radians (180 degrees) in
   ecliptic longitude from the Sun in planet Earth's sky. As a bonus for
   fans of Pi and the night sky, on that date the Moon also passed
   directly through Earth's umbral shadow in a total lunar eclipse. In
   clear skies, the colors of an eclipsed Moon can be vivid. Reflecting
   the deeply reddened sunlight scattered into Earth's shadow, the
   darkened lunar disk was recorded in this time series composite image
   from Cerro Tololo Observatory, Chile. The lunar triptych captures the
   start, middle, and end of the total eclipse phase that lasted about an
   hour. A faint bluish tint seen just along the brighter lunar limb at
   the shadow's edge is due to sunlight filtered through Earth's
   stratospheric ozone layer.

             Growing Gallery: Total Lunar Eclipse of 2025 March
                   Tomorrow's picture: Venusian silhouette
     __________________________________________________________________

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

