Moon turns red as Earth’s shadow passes over it this morning
Photo of the 2011 Lunar eclipse.
Photo of the 2011 Lunar eclipse.
This photo taken with a 20-inch reflector telescope from Ocean View on Hawaii island shows the moon turning red just before totality
The total lunar esclipse is captured in a photo from Mililani.
The moon is seen in the sky during a lunar eclipse near the Narrows Bridge in Tacoma, Wash. on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
A shooting star darts across the sky during as the moon is seen during a lunar eclipse over the entrance to Hawkeye Ranch near Geyserville, Ca., in Sonoma County on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011. (AP Photo, Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
The moon is seen in the sky over the Golden Gate Bridge during an eclipse on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, in San Francisco. The next full eclipse of the moon will not happen until April 14, 2014. (AP Photo/San Francisco Chronicle, Frederic Larson) NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTOG & CHRONICLE; MAGS OUT; NO SALES;
Stargazers observe the moon during a lunar eclipse at the Griffith Observatory in in Los Angeles, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
This photo composite shows the eclipse sequence.
Photo Gallery: Eclipse seen around the world
Photo Gallery: Lunar Eclipse
For about 50-minutes this morning, the moon turned a coppery red color as the Earth passed between the moon and the sun.
For those whose view was not blocked by cloudy and rainy weather, a total lunar eclipse was visible over Hawaii starting at about 4:06 a.m.
The moon turns a reddish color because the Earth’s shadow blocks most of the sun’s light. But red light, which has a longer wavelength, is able to get through.
David Sayre, who runs a public relations firm in Hawaii, said it had been cloudy and rainy around his house on Oahu, but the weather cleared just in time for the eclipse.
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He awoke, as he usually does, around 3 a.m. and remembered to step outside the house in time to catch the eclipse about a half hour later. No one else in the neighborhood was up.
"Sure enough it was turning that orangy-red color," Sayre, 47, said. "I said, ‘Gosh I better grab a camera.’"
He added, "To be able to see it just right outside our house was really cool."
This was the last total lunar eclipse visible in Hawaii for 3 years. The next one will happen on April 15, 2014.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
