Firefly Aerospace has published new images taken by the Blue Ghost spacecraft. They show a total solar eclipse on the Moon.
On the night of March 13-14, the inhabitants of the Earth were able to see the first total lunar eclipse since 2022. In turn, there was a total solar eclipse on the Moon at this time. It was witnessed by the Blue Ghost spacecraft, which landed in Mare Crisium on March 2, 2025.
Firefly Aerospace took advantage of this unique opportunity to capture the sky show. During the eclipse, Blue Ghost took a series of images showing the moment when the Earth began to cover the Sun, as well as the distinctive diamond ring that appeared afterward in the lunar sky.
But the survey did not end there. Blue Ghost also captured the total phase — the stage when the lunar surface and the vehicle were colored in a characteristic red color. This phenomenon is explained as follows. Although the Moon was in the Earth’s shadow, its surface still continued to be illuminated by the light refracted in our planet’s atmosphere. Since the Earth’s atmosphere is the most transparent, they reached the surface of the Moon to a greater extent. That’s why it took on that coloration during the eclipse.
Blue Ghost turns red! Our lander downlinked more imagery from the Moon captured around 2:30 am CDT during the totality of the solar eclipse last night. These images – rapidly captured by our top deck camera with different exposure settings – were stitched together in a quick… pic.twitter.com/BjKPXXhMLx
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) March 14, 2025
If you look closely at the Blue Ghost images, two stars can be seen next to the Sun, which has been covered by Earth. These are the inner planets of the Solar System – Mercury and Venus.
Blue Ghost will continue to operate on the Moon until March 16, when the Sun will set over its landing site. Since the vehicle has no heaters, it is unlikely that it will survive a cold night. However, this did not prevent it from putting itself in the history of astronautics. In addition to taking pictures of the eclipse, during its operation, Blue Ghost has successfully recorded GPS signals on the Moon, as well as explored the interior of the Earth’s moon.
