Posted on 03/14/2025 8:55:18 PM PDT by DoodleBob
What does an eclipse look like from the moon? Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander just sent back a stunning image from the lunar surface.
The commercial space company's lander, which touched down on the moon without a hitch on March 2 as part of a mission for NASA, took a high-definition image of the eclipse from its top deck in the early hours of Friday — and it's mighty beautiful.
"Blue Ghost got her first diamond ring! Captured at our landing site in the Moon’s Mare Crisium around 3:30 am CDT, the photo shows the sun about to emerge from totality behind Earth," Firefly Aerospace wrote online. (A "diamond ring" effect happens during a total solar eclipse when the sun just begins to appear from behind Earth; it also happens just before Earth totally blocks the sun.)
From our perch on Earth, it was a total lunar eclipse, and from the moon it was a total solar eclipse. These unique events happen when the sun, Earth, and moon align, allowing Earth to cast a shadow on the moon and block most sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. But our planet's atmosphere still allows red wavelengths of light to squeeze through and travel through space, illuminating the moon in reddish, rusty, orangish, or crimson colors.
(Excerpt) Read more at mashable.com ...
So the Earth perfectly obscures the sun when seen from the moon. And the moon perfectly obscures the sun when seen from Earth
it is as if it was by design.
But but there are no stars. Has to be fake. /s
I guess the lander landed upright this time.
It was foggy down here on the Gulf Coast...couldn’t make it out.
If Earth were smaller, a total lunar eclipse would be a dark spot moving across the surface of the moon.
Stayed up later than normal to try to see it. Clouds mostly covered it up. 😡 just saw some pinkish light around the moon. 2/3 of the sky was clear, except for where the moon was. 😭
If the earth is near aphelion (point furthest away from the sun) the moon will not completely cover the sun. This is called an annular eclipse.
I guess it was God’s plan that the two things are even close.
Totally a geometry thing. (Actually its really a God thing) The schematic is not to scale but gives you the idea, or at least it should. I think there is an image somewhere that uses a basketball and a pingpong ball and a marble to illustrate the distance and diameters at relative scale.
It is pretty cool. Gives you a glimpse of the vastness of space when you see the Earth!
But they have the Otago Interplanetary Cycle Trail in New Zealand that does it better, and here are a few pictures from it that illustrate the idea.
This is the Sun. They couldn't make a sphere large enough, but the yellow fenced in paddock area shows the diameter!
Next is Mercury (over five football fields away at 634 yards) from the area representing, to scale, the Sun: 
from the website describing the Otago trail: "...From the sun at Ranfurly, it’s an easy stroll to the first planet of the solar system – Mercury – a mere 580 metres away. To represent the very smallest planets, a globe structure would have been lost against the magnificence of the Otago scenery. Instead, negative space was opted for, to emphasise their miniscule nature..."
And the Earth with Moon (which is just under a mile from the sun at just under a mile of walking on the trail (.9 miles) looks like this:
from the website describing the Otago trail: "...On reaching Earth, you have travelled a mile from the sun, or in space, 93 million miles. The Earth has been crafted from stainless steel and engraved so it gleams, jewel-like under the Central Otago sun.
Our moon conveniently sits just 13 feet away from the earth. If you time your visit for just after breakfast in late March or September, you’ll be able to witness the Interplanetary Cycle Trail’s very own lunar eclipse! Watch the shadow of the Earth track over that of the Moon on the Eclipse Shadow Board...."
I love this kind of thing. It really gives you a feel for the distances!
This is awesome. Thank you.
And yes, God is Great.
The Crew 10 docking with the ISS happens later today.
Thanks DB!
Very cool indeed!
Yes! When I get a feel for that kind of thing...it makes me think of God, which is great!
I felt the same way when I purchased a high end pair of binoculars, and I looked at Jupiter, and...it made me gasp with that same kind of feeling of space and distance, and knowing that it wasn’t create by Man!
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