Lunar eclipse. Montage of nine exposures taken during the total lunar eclipse of November 29 1993. A lunar eclipse is caused by the entry of the Moon into the cone of the shadow cast by the Earth. The first exposure (top left) was taken at 5:21 Universal Time (UT) when half of the lunar disc was eclipsed. The three exposures at centre were taken from left to right at 6:40, 6:42 and 6:44 UT shortly after the totality phase. During totality the Moon does not generally disappear; it is visible thanks to the sunlight refracted onto its surface by the Earth's atmosphere. The last exposure (bottom right, 7:31 UT) shows half of the lunar disc emerging from the Earth's shadow.