Lunar eclipse photometry: absolute luminance measurements and modeling

Abstract

The Moon’s time-dependent luminance was determined during the 9 February 1990 and 3 March 2007 total lunar eclipses by using calibrated, industry standard photometers. After the results were corrected to unit air mass and to standard distances for both Moon and Sun, an absolute calibration was accomplished by using the Sun’s known luminance and a pre-eclipse lunar albedo of approximately 13.5%. The measured minimum level of brightness in the total phase of both eclipses was relatively high, namely $-3.32{\mathrm{m}}_{\text{vis}}$ and $-1.7{\mathrm{m}}_{\text{vis}}$, which hints at the absence of pronounced stratospheric aerosol. The light curves were modeled in such a way as to let the Moon move through an artificial Earth shadow composed of a multitude of disk and ring zones, containing a relative luminance data set from an atmospheric radiative transfer calculation.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

Simulating irradiance during lunar eclipses: the spherically symmetric case

Michael Vollmer and Stanley David Gedzelman
Appl. Opt. 47(34) H52-H61 (2008)

Simulating irradiance and color during lunar eclipses using satellite data

Stanley David Gedzelman and Michael Vollmer
Appl. Opt. 47(34) H149-H156 (2008)

Sky brightness during eclipses: a review

S. M. Silverman and E. G. Mullen
Appl. Opt. 14(12) 2838-2843 (1975)

Solar eclipse skies and limb reddening

Stanley David Gedzelman
Appl. Opt. 59(21) F78-F84 (2020)

Visibility of stars, halos, and rainbows during solar eclipses

Gunther P. Können and Claudia Hinz
Appl. Opt. 47(34) H14-H24 (2008)