<p>Based on your description of your experiences, my guess is that it’s not that this eclipse was especially bright, but rather that the previous one you saw was unusually dark.  My experience (late 1990s to present) has always been that a totally eclipsed moon is easy to see even under bright urban conditions, but <a href="https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/appearance.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this page</a> says that there were some eclipses in the 1980s and early 1990s that were hard to see due to recent volcanic eruptions.  Do you know the date of the previous eclipse you saw?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-29T05:24:45.423Z
This is a good point. The one I remember was *quite a while ago!* [1975-May-25](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot1951/LE1975May25T.pdf) (by process of elimination form [here](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/))
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-29T03:23:45.670Z
2021-05-29T03:23:45.670Z
Eric Jensen
<p>Due to scheduling and geometry I could only snap last night's lunar eclipse with an older model cell phone on a pedestrian overpass of a brightly lit city street, but surprisingly the Moon was quite bright even during the totality phase (U2 to U3 (14.5 minutes) also see below) when the Moon was within the geometrical umbra of Earth's shadow.</p>
<pre><code>   2021-05-26
----------------
U1 = 09:44:57 UT     first contact with umbra
U2 = 11:11:25 UT     begin totatity
U3 = 11:25:55 UT     end totality
U4 = 12:52:22 UT     last contact with umbra
</code></pre>
<p>This eclipse just barely grazed the inside of the umbra.</p>
<p>The last total lunar eclipse I remember was quite a long time ago. It was more central and the Moon barely visible with night adapted eyes viewed from the countryside, so it's not a fair comparison.</p>
<p>But I'd like to ask anyway:</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> Was the radial gradient of Earth's umbra unusually bright for the May 26, 2021 total lunar eclipse? Might there have been more light scattered from Earth's atmosphere into the umbra than average, due to weather or perhaps the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Mount_Nyiragongo_eruption" rel="nofollow noreferrer">recent eruption Mount Nyiragongo</a> in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Or was the brightness of the northern edge of the Moon pretty much normal for this geometry?</p>
<hr />
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Ss98Q.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Ss98Q.jpg" alt="Snap shot of total lunar eclipse at 2021-05-26 11:23:58 UTC" /></a></p>
<p><strong>above:</strong> Snapshot at <code>2021-05-26 11:23:58 UTC</code> <strong>North is left</strong> (altered only to obscure a phone number on a sign)</p>
<p><strong>below:</strong> from eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov's <a href="https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2021May26T.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Total Lunar Eclipse of 2021 May 26</a> found <a href="https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEdecade/LEdecade2021.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>. <strong>North is up</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/g54uK.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/g54uK.png" alt="screenshot from Total Lunar Eclipse of 2021 May 26 https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2021May26T.pdf" /></a></p>

<amateur-observing><photography><atmospheric-effects><lunar-eclipse>
Why could I so easily see and photograph such a bright totally eclipsed Moon from a bright city road? (May 26, 2021 total lunar eclipse)
uhoh
# Why could I so easily see and photograph such a bright totally eclipsed Moon from a bright city road? (May 26, 2021 total lunar eclipse)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-05-27)

Due to scheduling and geometry I could only snap last night's lunar eclipse with an older model cell phone on a pedestrian overpass of a brightly lit city street, but surprisingly the Moon was quite bright even during the totality phase (U2 to U3 (14.5 minutes) also see below) when the Moon was within the geometrical umbra of Earth's shadow.

```
   2021-05-26
----------------
U1 = 09:44:57 UT     first contact with umbra
U2 = 11:11:25 UT     begin totatity
U3 = 11:25:55 UT     end totality
U4 = 12:52:22 UT     last contact with umbra

```

This eclipse just barely grazed the inside of the umbra.

The last total lunar eclipse I remember was quite a long time ago. It was more central and the Moon barely visible with night adapted eyes viewed from the countryside, so it's not a fair comparison.

But I'd like to ask anyway:

**Question:** Was the radial gradient of Earth's umbra unusually bright for the May 26, 2021 total lunar eclipse? Might there have been more light scattered from Earth's atmosphere into the umbra than average, due to weather or perhaps the [recent eruption Mount Nyiragongo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Mount_Nyiragongo_eruption) in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Or was the brightness of the northern edge of the Moon pretty much normal for this geometry?

---

[![Snap shot of total lunar eclipse at 2021-05-26 11:23:58 UTC](https://i.sstatic.net/Ss98Q.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/Ss98Q.jpg)

**above:** Snapshot at `2021-05-26 11:23:58 UTC` **North is left** (altered only to obscure a phone number on a sign)

**below:** from eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov's [Total Lunar Eclipse of 2021 May 26](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2021May26T.pdf) found [here](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEdecade/LEdecade2021.html). **North is up**

[![screenshot from Total Lunar Eclipse of 2021 May 26 https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2021May26T.pdf](https://i.sstatic.net/g54uK.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/g54uK.png)

**Tags:** amateur-observing, photography, atmospheric-effects, lunar-eclipse


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-05-29. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Based on your description of your experiences, my guess is that it’s not that this eclipse was especially bright, but rather that the previous one you saw was unusually dark. My experience (late 1990s to present) has always been that a totally eclipsed moon is easy to see even under bright urban conditions, but [this page](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/appearance.html) says that there were some eclipses in the 1980s and early 1990s that were hard to see due to recent volcanic eruptions. Do you know the date of the previous eclipse you saw?

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This is a good point. The one I remember was *quite a while ago!* [1975-May-25](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot1951/LE1975May25T.pdf) (by process of elimination form [here](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/))  

---

