Total lunar eclipse. Time-lapse montage of twelve images showing the progression (from bottom left to top right) of a total lunar eclipse from start to totality. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon. At totality, the light from the Moon (sunlight reflected from the Moon after passing through the Earth's atmosphere) turns orange due to shorter wavelengths, such as blue light, being scattered more in Earth's atmosphere than longer wavelengths, such as red light. A total lunar eclipse typically lasts for 4-6 hours. For an alternative montage, see image C047/6660. For the separate images, see C047/6661 to C047/6672.