Several Vancouver photographers bore witness to a rare celestial spectacle above the city last night -- or at least they would have if it weren’t so cloudy.
Even still they pointed their lenses to the night sky on Tuesday (May 25) and managed to capture our closest lunar neighbour before it ducked behind the clouds. Known as the "flower moon," this month’s full moon is also considered a "supermoon,” meaning its orbit has taken it closer to Earth making it appear larger. The supermoon is predicted to appear at its fullest in Vancouver this Wednesday at 4:13 a.m. but the lunar eclipse started at 1:47 a.m. with the maximum eclipse taking place at 4:18 a.m.
Mark Teasdale shared images of the moon going through its eclipse behind the clouds, pointing out where in the sky it was hiding.
Lunar Eclipse in #Vancouver was clouded over.
— Mark Teasdale ★ (@MarksGonePublic) May 26, 2021
At 4:15 AM the sky gave off some great lights through the clouds but there was no moon to be seen. The last image shows where the moon was hiding. #LunarEclipse pic.twitter.com/bqqqvPYdGJ
Usually, the moon has a bright and pale complexion, a phenomenon created by reflecting the sun's light off its face. During the evening’s eclipse though the Moon appears to be illuminating the clouds in shades of oranges and reds. This is because when Earth lines up between the moon and the sun the moon is hidden from sunlight.
When this happens, the only light that reaches the Moon's surface is from the edges of the earth's atmosphere. The air molecules from Earth's atmosphere scatter out most of the blue light. The remaining light reflects onto the Moon's surface with a red glow.
Others captured the moon before it went behind the clouds.
A break in the clouds! The Super Moon is in partial eclipse after totality about an hour ago. Look southwest. It will set at 5:25 am so have a quick look! pic.twitter.com/kAigst7bn6
— Mark Madryga (@MMadryga) May 26, 2021
With files from Elana Shepert
