Lunar Eclipse From Alqueva Dark Sky

From the photographer: “The photo sequence shows the path of totality during the eclipse as seen from Mina de São Domingos in Dark Sky Alqueva, ending with a Lunar Corona that was formed while bright moonlight was diffracted by water droplets in thin clouds, drifting in front of the lunar disk. During a lunar eclipse, the moon passes through Earth’s shadow, giving the natural satellite a blood-red hue. During a celestial event like that is incredible to notice huge changes on the reflected light that illuminates the ground. Some stars are also reflected in a small puddle of acid water from Achada do Gamo that was – since the beginning of modern mining activities in the São Domingos Mine – the center of metallurgical activities on extracted minerals. The areas of heaps, slag and channels of water, give the landscape a lunar aspect. The heaps are composed of different materials with high levels of metals, such as slag and ash, whose leaching through the rainwater leads to the production of acid mine drainage, usually with an ocher or reddish color. Below is also visible a poster with a close-up view of the Moon immersed in the blue hue from the corona.”

Click the second photo for a telephoto view of the eclipse.