MOON AND MARS

Looking out of my window tonight as the moon rises, with Mars on the upper left at about 11 o'clock in the sky.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

BLOOD MOON

Curiosity and awe have greeted a complete lunar eclipse, the longest one of this century and visible in much of the world. The so-called "blood moon," when it turns a deep red, was visible at different times in Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe and South America on Saturday when the Sun, Earth and Moon lined up perfectly, casting Earth's shadow on the Moon.

The total eclipse lasted one hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, though a partial eclipse preceded and followed it, meaning the Moon spent a total of three hours and 54 minutes in the Earth's umbral shadow, according to NASA.

Mars is currently traveling closer to Earth than it has since 2003, so some observers might have also seen what looked like an orange-red star, but it was in fact the Red Planet. It is a very unusual coincidence to have a total lunar eclipse and Mars at opposition on the same night. Mars is at its brightest in 15 years.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Through my Lens meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme,

and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.