It’s the longest Lunar Eclipse of the 21st century: this Friday the moon will shine in a deep orange, transitioning itself into a true blood moon. If you don’t remember all the details of a Lunar Eclipse back from school, which by the way is absolutely not to be mistaken with a Solar Eclipse, here the quick explanation. A total lunar eclipse occurs, when the moon passes directly behind the earth, and therefore the earth completely blocks the sunlight coming from the sun from reaching the moon. As there is no direct sunlight, only the light refracted by the earth’s atmosphere touches the moon, which appears reddish as for the same reason that a sunset or sunrise does: the Rayleigh scattering of bluer light. Due to this, a totally eclipsed Moon is often described as a blood moon.

Timeline of the Lunar Eclipse with a Blood Moon on July 27th 2018

7:15 pm Entry of partial shade begins
8:25 pm entry core shadow begins
9:30 pm start totality
10:23 pm maximum
11:13 pm end totality
0:19 am exit core shadow ends
1:29 am exit half shadow ends

Photography Tips: How to photograph a lunar eclipse/blood moon

Sure, it might be possible to photograph the lunar eclipse on July 27th with your smartphone. But with only digital zoom, the pictures might not turn out that great… You should definitely grab a camera with as much optical zoom as possible, or place a proper lens (more than 55 mm, at least…) on your DSLR.

settings during the shadow phase/ before start and end of totality
ISO 100
1/100 sec

settings during the absolute maximum totality
ISO 400-800
1-10 sec.