On March 13 and 14, the “blood moon” or the “red moon” had been spotted in all its dramatic glory in the night sky. This rare occurrence is a particular kind of “lunar eclipse.” A lunar eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon that occurs when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon.

According to HFC astronomy instructor, Steve Murrell, “The sun provides illumination which would then result in all the planets and moons then casting a shadow in space. Every now and again, the moon will pass into Earth’s shadow and therefore block all of the sun’s light from reaching the moon, resulting in a lunar eclipse.” This is what is referred to as the “blood red moon.”

Murell has been teaching physics and astronomy full time at Henry Ford College for 21 years. Prior to that, Murrell had been a physicist working for different corporations like Ford Motor Company’s science research labs.

Coinciding with the “red moon” was a total lunar eclipse. Therefore, when one looks at the moon during the right time, approximately three in the morning or so, it would be evident that the moon wouldn’t be dark, but blood red. This is because while the Earth may block nearly all the illumination from the sun, the sun still casts its light through the atmosphere of the Earth. Whenever light passes from one medium to another, it bends, and that is essentially what occurs in this instance as well. The sunlight would be going at angles away from the Earth then hits the atmosphere and then curves the light, which is referred to as refraction. It refracts and bends the light back towards the moon. Essentially, what little sunlight passes through the atmosphere is redirected to the moon. And since the sunlight that passes through the atmosphere scatters the blue part of light (the part that makes our sky look blue) once the blue is taken away from the white sunlight, all we are left with is red light.

When studying Earth’s shadow, one would notice that its shadow isn’t entirely dark; it does indeed contain some light. This light comes from the light illuminating from the sun which passes through Earth’s atmosphere. Red light, in particular, travels through the atmosphere of Earth with more ease than any other. This red light gets refracted into the shadow which then reflects a reddish hue. When the moon passes through Earth’s shadow, the red light from its atmosphere gives the moon its rare reddish appearance. Murrell says, “This same phenomenon also explains the unique tints of red cast across the skies during sunrise and sunset. Essentially, the red moon is just an extension of this natural effect.”

Murrell’s fellow HFC physics professor, Jesse Mason, explains that the occurrence of a total lunar eclipse or a total solar eclipse is difficult to accurately predict because of the orbits of the moon and the orbit of the Earth. Mason says, “The moon goes around the Earth once every month and the Earth goes around the sun once every year. You’d think that every time the moon passes in between the Earth and the sun, we’d get a total solar eclipse and every time the moon is behind the Earth, we would get a lunar eclipse. But that isn’t the case because the orbit of the moon is slightly tilted compared to the orbit of the Earth. So it is more rare that the moon happens to pass right between the Earth and the sun. Usually it’s a little bit above or a little bit below when it passes.” In fact, it has only been five hundred years since we realized that the orbits weren’t circular, but that they were elliptical and that they were tilted.

Historically, solar and lunar eclipses have captured our attention since long before written language. When written language emerged around six thousand years ago, we began recording the occurrences of these events. Astute observers and astronomers soon discovered a pattern, which came to be known as the “saros cycle.” This cycle was tracked even before we fully understood the science behind solar and lunar eclipses. Astronomers recognized the pattern, and some societies even attributed special significance to these events. As Mason puts it, “They really are just shadows. The moon moving in front of the sun casts the moon’s shadow on the Earth and we get a solar eclipse. And the Earth casting a shadow on the moon gives us a lunar eclipse.”

The lunar eclipse of March 2025 would have been the first lunar eclipse that can be seen anywhere in the world since November 2022. According to Space.com, it will also be only the first of three lunar eclipses said to occur between 2025 and 2026. While it is unsafe to observe a solar eclipse with the naked eye, to look at a lunar eclipse is completely safe and does not require any sort of special glasses or equipment.

Many people find difficulty in capturing the true detail of the moon using their smartphone. This is due to the fact that our ability to see light versus dark is significantly better than the phone’s ability to capture dark versus light. The moon is so much greater in intensity and brightness than anything else around it which results in great difficulty for the phone to capture the details of the moon. It is recommended, if you wish to see the lunar eclipse more clearly, to use binoculars or a telescope that will enhance the view of this phenomenon and reveal the unique details of the moon as its color turns to a deep shade of red.

Mason shared that one of the most fascinating things happening in astronomy this year is that the world’s largest camera will come online in July of 2025. This is the billion-dollar Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), in the Andes Mountains in Chile. The LSST is a telescope that will stitch together various pictures of the night sky every three days in order to cover the entirety of the night sky and repeat this continuously for ten years. This camera will reveal more about outer space than scientists have been able to comprehend, making the LSST the most ambitious project in astronomy yet. Mason compares the data stream from the telescope to be “like drinking from a firehose.” Mason leads a student research team right here at Henry Ford College who have been working with the LSST and are knowledgeable in using the data and are incredibly excited about being one of the first student teams to use data from the LSST telescope.

If you are interested in learning more about what is up in the cosmos, visit: hfcc.edu/campus-life/planetarium.