Moon watchers were elated this morning with a rare celestial phenomenon, a total lunar eclipse. Libby was up early with her camera and captured this photo of the moon 3/4 eclipsed just before it set behind the Rockies in Colorado.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon goes through the long shadow cast by the Earth and is totally blocked from the sunlight that normally illuminates it. As minutes passed and the eclipse progressed, the moon took on a reddish glow. Here in Arizona, once the moon was completely covered by the Earth’s shadow, it just winked out, disappeared. Amazing to watch!

If you missed this one, there will be another total lunar eclipse on April 15, 2014, visible in the U.S.