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A rare celestial spectacle fascinated observers in southern Hesse
On Sunday evening, astronomy enthusiasts in Darmstadt witnessed a spectacular event: a total lunar eclipse, which was also clearly visible across much of southern Hesse. The photographs, taken at the Oberfeld observatory in Darmstadt (photos: Arthur Schönbein) , impressively capture the progression of the event – even though the view was initially obscured by thin cirrus clouds. Only later in the evening did the sky clear, allowing the moon to become increasingly visible in its reddish hue.
At moonrise, the moon was completely within the Earth's umbra. This phase is called totality and lasted about an hour. As the moon slowly rose higher in the twilight, it appeared intensely red, especially near the horizon. The reason: its light had to pass through the atmosphere on its way to Earth, which further filtered it.
The fact that the moon doesn't simply disappear during an eclipse, but appears in a characteristic red hue, is due to the refraction of light. The Earth's atmosphere acts like a filter. Sunlight is split into its different wavelengths as it enters the atmosphere. Shorter-wavelength blue light is scattered more strongly and escapes the shadow cone, while the longer-wavelength red components are bent and directed towards the Earth's surface. This light reaches the moon and causes it to glow reddish.
A total lunar eclipse occurs only during a full moon, when the sun, Earth, and moon are perfectly aligned. Although the moon regularly passes through Earth's shadow, this exact alignment of Earth and moon orbits happens only rarely – usually twice a year. However, the phenomenon is only visible in the hemisphere where the moon is above the horizon at that time. On Sunday, this was the case in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Observers in Germany will now have to be patient: the next opportunity will be on August 28, 2026. However, only a partial lunar eclipse will be visible then – the impressive image of a completely red moon will remain a rarity for the time being.
(DARMSTADT – RED/as)
