Under a Blood Red Sky

Under a Blood Red Sky


Photograph by Carlos Gutierrez, Reuters

A plume of ash rises high into the atmosphere and tints the sky blood red above Chile's Puyehue volcano in this June 5 photograph.

The Chilean volcanic eruption happened to occur during the longest total lunar eclipse in more than a decade, which occurred on June 15. (See pictures of the June 15 lunar eclipse.)

Many sky-watchers reported that the eclipsed moon appeared rusty orange or blood red. This type of color transformation isn't uncommon during eclipses, because dust and gas in the Earth's atmosphere can filter blue wavelengths from the sun's rays, but ash particles from the Chilean eruptions could have helped enhance the effect for this particular eclipse. (Find out how the lunar eclipse worked.)

"I would assume there was some impact," Miller said. "Anytime there's a large amount of ash in the atmosphere, we have reports of this type of phenomenon."National Geographic