Description:
The lunar eclipse, which occured while the Apollo 15 spacecraft was returning from the moon, was recorded in a series of color photographs. These photographs were taken (hand-held mode) by Astronaut David R. Scott, commander, using the electric Hasselblad camera. The views are as follows from upper left to lower right: (1) a two second exposure taken 12 minutes prior to the moon's entry into total eclipse; (2) another two-second exposure taken six minutes prior to eclipse entry; (3) a two-minute exposure showing multiple images and begun one minute before the moon comes out of total eclipse; and (4) a two second exposure taken six minutes after exit from the eclipse. The white region, wherever it appears, is penumbral lighting of the lunar surface. The orange-red-brown band is caused by sunlight that has first passed through the earth's atmosphere where the shorter wavelength, blue light has been scattered out, allowing only a diminished intensity red light to reach the moon.
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