Blood Moon Rising

Clear skies over Jasper County provided an opportunity to view a total lunar eclipse, which resulted in a "blood moon," which is caused when refracted sunlight seeps around Earth, striking the lunar surface, and is reflected back. The eclipse reached totality at approximately 2:30 a.m. this morning (left photo). The moon began emerging from Earth's shadow about an hour later (right photo). The next total lunar eclipse will occur in October; it is part of a "tetrad" of eclipses that will be visible over North America during the next 18 months. The last tetrad occurred in 1967.