Unusual sight The best photos of the blood moon over Bonn
Bonn/region · An unusual sight awaited early risers in Bonn and the Rhine-Sieg region on Monday. A total lunar eclipse coloured the full moon red. We have collected the best pictures of the blood moon.
For early risers, the view of the night sky was a worthwhile sight on Monday. Early on Monday morning, a so-called blood moon could be seen in Bonn and the Rhine-Sieg region – also known as a copper moon, super moon and red giant full moon. The cosmic spectacle was visible – assuming cloudless skies – over all of central Europe. The moon was visible in a westerly/north westerly direction. As the full moon was particularly close to the earth, astronomers were expecting an especially spectacular event.
The chances of seeing it in Bonn and the region were good. The sky in Bonn, Cologne and the Rhine-Sieg district promised to be clear, according to weather forecasts. It will first cloud over during Monday.
However, those wanting to view the heavenly spectacle had to be on their feet quite early. The moon was already passing through the earth’s half shadow at 3.36am, but this first phase was hardly noticeable. From 4.34am, the earth’s full shadow was visible on the moon and gradually “nibbled” away at the moon. It took an hour for the moon to completely disappear into the shadow. Although the moon was still visible, it appeared in a matt-red light, which also gives it the name blood moon. The total phase of the lunar eclipse began at 5.41am. The moon reappeared from the earth’s shadow from 6.43am.
“The reddish lunar eclipse used be called a copper moon in common parlance,” says Matthias Habel, meteorologist and press spokesperson for the weather portal Wetteronline. Today, the more spectacular term “blood moon” is often used.
(Original text: Andreas Dyck. Translation: kc)
