Physics Photo of the Week

Lunar Eclipse – November 8-9, 2003

Warren Wilson College

The weather was partly cloudy, some good shots of the ingress of the moon into earth's shadow. The total phase was blocked by clouds. Photos by Donald Collins - special thanks to the WWC Biology Department for loan of Nikon Coolpix 995 digital camera. Telescope was Meade non-computerized telescope.

In the two images below, which image shows the moon in partial eclipse during a full moon and which image shows the moon as it appears when it is closer to the sun than the earth?  Choose your answers before looking below.

The Right hand picture is a picture of the moon entering the earth's shadow on Nov. 9, 2003.  Larger photos below:

Compare the images above of the moon entering the earth's shadow with the crescent phase of the moon seen every month in the photo below.  A common misconception among many people is that the crescent shape below is caused by the moon entering the earth's shadow.  However, the pictures above show how large the shadow of the earth is relative to the moon when the moon enters eclipse.  The crescent moon in the photo by Jesse Paluch in Feb. 2003 is caused by the moon being between the earth and the sun.