HUBBLE ATLAS
Lunar Eclipse — image from the Hubble Space Telescope

Illustrations

Lunar Eclipse

August 6, 2020 · ESA/Hubble

Zoom to full resolution Original on ESA/Hubble ↗

This diagram explains the geometry of the lunar eclipse.

When the moon is entirely in the Earth’s umbra (known as a total lunar eclipse or umbral eclipse), all sunlight reaching the lunar surface has been refracted or scattered through Earth’s atmosphere. When the moon is in the Earth’s penumbra (known as a penumbral eclipse), illumination comes from both direct sunlight and sunlight refracted and scattered through the planet's atmosphere. This is similar to an exoplanet transit observation.