Totality

The color and brightness of a total lunar eclipse can be yellow, orange, red, or brown, or very dark.

The color varies from eclipse to eclipse based on weather conditions and particles in Earth’s atmosphere. Factors such as clouds, precipitation, or dust affect the light passing through the atmosphere. For example, gas and dust from a volcanic eruption could block most sunlight from passing through the atmosphere such that a lunar eclipse in those conditions could be very dark and barely visible.