This epic timelapse shows the glory of the "blood moon" lunar eclipse

The “blood moon” lunar eclipse is always something to look forward to if you enjoy star gazing or astrophotography. Last year we saw two of them, one in May and the other in November, and they were both spectacular both from the Earth and from space.

The November lunar eclipse was the last “blood moon” before 2025. It’s a lot to wait, I know, but photographer Miguel Claro makes the waiting more bearable. He released a gorgeous timelapse called Earth Shadow – The Beauty of a Total Lunar Eclipse. In this video, Miguel shows a close-up of the moon as it turns blood red during the total eclipse. It’s magical!

The 4K video intends to show the intense experience and emotion you get when you see the moon turning red as it gets into the Earth’s shadow. As the moon gets into the Earth’s shadow, the stars around it get more visible, along with the Milky Way. Miguel took the photos during the eclipse on May 16, 2022, in Portugal.

“This Moon was also called a ‘Super Blood Moon’ for being near the closest point to our planet Earth,” Miguel reminds us. And as I mentioned, we’ll have the chance to see another in over a year. In the meantime, we’ll get to see a penumbral lunar eclipse in May and a partial eclipse in October, but they will be way less dramatic than the total lunar eclipse that will occur a year from now.

This magical timelapse sure brought back memories for me. Back in 2018, I observed the lunar eclipse from a seashore in Montenegro. I was alone with my tripod and a camera and took some photos as best as I could with a 50mm lens. That was one of the rare moments where I was fully focused on what I was doing, yet perfectly peaceful and anxiety-free… And it felt so good to relive that emotion while watching Miguel’s video.