We live in a world that seems so ordered; the Sun rises, goes across the sky and then sets. The Moon goes through its phases from new to full and back again. It all seems like clockwork, and then, something unusual happens that seems to throw the orderly timing of the cosmos into chaos. On a night when the moon rises full and beautiful, it starts to change, at first it is so subtle few notice it. But then, every so slowly, the moon begins to dim, and more alarming yet, it disappears.

There are actually several type of lunar eclipses, total, partial and penumbral. The eclipse on March 3, 2007 was the best kind, a total lunar eclipse. This kind can only take place when the Earth passes directly in front of a full Moon, thus casting its shadow on the Moon's surface. It may seem a magic show of shadow and light and a disappearing act by the Moon, we know how the "magic" works, but we can still appreciate the beauty.

During a lunar eclipse you will occasionally get to see the Moon actually appear to change colors. This is quite a treat and is something you won't soon forget. The reason that the Moon appears to change colors is that the dust in Earth's atmosphere is acting like a light prism and refracting, or bending, the light that strikes the Moon

Hupa Indians of northern California
The Moon is a man, who has twenty wives and a house full of pets consisting of mountain lions, bears and snakes. To feed his pets, the man goes out to hunt. After the hunt he carries all the game back to his house for his pets, but they are not satisfied with what he has brought them. In anger, the pets attack the man, who begins to bleed. The Moon turning a reddish color during a lunar eclipse represents this. One of the Moon's wives is Frog and when she sees the predicament her husband is in, she rushes to help him. Frog beats away the pets. Then she and the other wives collect up the Moon's blood and he can then recover.

Photos Taken: Saturday March 3, 2007 Minnesota
The pictures are from the web tonight, as it was too
cloudy to view the Lunar Eclipse for my home.
There are two solar and two lunar eclipses to occur
in 2007 the dates as follows:
2007 Mar 03: Total Lunar Eclipse
2007 Mar 19: Partial Solar Eclipse
2007 Aug 28: Total Lunar Eclipse
2007 Sep 11: Partial Solar Eclipse