https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20134707001
Lunar eclipses: Probing the atmosphere of an inhabited planet
ESA/ESTEC, PB 299, 2200AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands
a e-mail: agarcia@rssd.esa.int; tonhingm@gmail.com
The Moon's brightness during a lunar eclipse is indicative of the composition, cloudiness and aerosol loading of the Earth's atmosphere. The idea of using lunar eclipse observations to characterize the Earth's atmosphere is not new, but the interest raised by the prospects of discovering Earth-like exoplanets transiting their host stars has brought renewed attention to the method. We review some recent efforts made in the prediction and interpretation of lunar eclipses. We also comment on the contribution of the lunar eclipse theory to the refractive theory of planetary transits.
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2013
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
