Sky & Telescope is making four illustrations, two photographs, and one animation available to editors and producers. Permission is granted for one-time, nonexclusive use in print and broadcast media, as long as appropriate credits (as noted in each caption) are included. Web publication must include a link to SkyandTelescope.com.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the shadow cast by the sunlit Earth. Like any shadow, it has two components: the outer, lighter penumbra and the inner, much darker umbra. When the Moon enters the penumbra, where just part of the Sun's light is blocked, it becomes only slightly dimmer. Only when it passes into the umbra does it look markedly different. But even when completely within the umbra, the Moon does not disappear altogether. Sunlight skims through the Earth's atmosphere and is refracted (bent) into the shadow, casting a reddish tinge upon the lunar surface. The diagram is not to scale. Click on the image to download a publication-quality JPEG (399 kilobytes) by FTP; the illustration is also available without labels (344 kilobytes).

Sky & Telescope illustration by Gregg Dinderman.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the shadow cast by the sunlit Earth. Like any shadow, it has two components: the outer, lighter penumbra and the inner, much darker umbra. When the Moon enters the penumbra, it becomes only slightly dimmer. Only when it passes into the umbra does it look markedly different. On the night of October 27–28, 2004, the Moon crosses deep inside the northern part of the umbra. The partial phases before and after totality occur while the Moon is moving across the umbra's edge. Much less noticeable are the stages when the Moon is in the penumbra. Click on the image to download a publication-quality JPEG (196 kilobytes) by anonymous FTP.

Sky & Telescope illustration by Gregg Dinderman.

This sequence of events shows what will happen when the October 2004 full Moon slides through Earth's shadow. The shadow, usually invisible against the blackness of space, has two parts: the dark central umbra and the much lighter penumbra, or outer fringe. Click on the image to download a publication-quality JPEG (199 kilobytes) by anonymous FTP; the high-resolution image shows the entire eclipse on seven panels, not just the beginning of the event as shown on the three panels visible here.

Sky & Telescope illustration by Casey B. Reed.

This map shows whether the Moon will rise or set during any phase of the eclipse for observers across the globe. Because an eclipsed Moon is always full, the Sun sets or rises almost simultaneously — on the opposite horizon. Click on the image to download a publication-quality JPEG (282 kilobytes) by anonymous FTP.

Sky & Telescope illustration by Gregg Dinderman.

On November 18-19, 1975, Sky & Telescope's Dennis di Cicco captured this image of the totally eclipsed Moon. Totality on October 27-28, 2004, will look somewhat different, as the eclipsed Moon will be deep in the northern part of the Earth's shadow, rather than near the southern edge as in 1975. Click on the image to download a publication-quality JPEG (3.4 megabytes) by anonymous FTP.

Sky & Telescope photograph by Dennis di Cicco.

Aligning his camera on the same star for nine successive exposures, Sky & Telescope contributing photographer Akira Fujii captured this record of the Moon’s progress dead center through the Earth’s shadow in July 2000. On October 27-28, 2004, another total lunar eclipse will be visible from North America — right in the middle of World Series Game 4! Click on the image to download a publication-quality JPEG (1.5 megabytes) by FTP.

Courtesy Akira Fujii and Sky & Telescope.

This 10-second animation of a total lunar eclipse consists of 291 black-and-white images taken on September 27, 1996. In this sequence, 1 second represents 30 minutes of elapsed time. Coloring has been added to simulate the Moon's appearance when it was completely within Earth's shadow; the totally eclipsed Moon has been brightened for clarity. During totality, dark, murky blobs are seen crossing the lunar disk — an effect caused by variations in the tiny amount of sunlight that leaks onto the Moon after being refracted (bent) through Earth's atmosphere. This can be viewed or downloaded by FTP as a broadcast-quality (3.7-megabyte) QuickTime animation.

Sky & Telescope animation by Craig M. Utter and Gregg Dinderman; images courtesy António Cidadão.

Sky Publishing Corp. was founded in 1941 by Charles A. Federer Jr. and Helen Spence Federer, the original editors of Sky & Telescope magazine. The company's headquarters are in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. In addition to Sky & Telescope and SkyandTelescope.com, the company publishes Night Sky magazine (a bimonthly for beginners with a Web site at NightSkyMag.com), two annuals (Beautiful Universe and SkyWatch), as well as books, star atlases, posters, prints, globes, and other fine astronomy products.