view of red moon

The Longest ‘Blood Moon’ Eclipse of the Century. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon. Unlike with a solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the Earth and sun, blocking the sun’s light, the moon is not “turned dark” during an eclipse, but instead appears to turn red. Because there is light scattered through the atmosphere of the Earth, some of the sun’s light gets bounced around the edge of the Earth to hit the moon. Blue and violet wavelengths are scattered more than red and orange ones, this making the moon appear red.