Total lunar eclipse, montage image. Sequence of consecutive images running from left to right, showing the Moon passing through the shadow of the Earth. This cuts off the sunlight that normally illuminates the Moon's surface. During a lunar eclipse, the Moon appears orange due to being illuminated by sunlight passing through the Earth's atmosphere. The whiter areas are where the shadow hasn't yet reached (upper left) and where the moon has passed out of it (upper centre).The moon at far right is white as it has passed fully out of the Earth's shadow.