Timelapse: Total lunar eclipse

Sunday, October 5, 2014, 12:01 PM - Less well known than its solar cousin, a total lunar eclipse can be a real treat for the astronomically inclined.

And if you find a spot with no urban light pollution to block out the starlight, it's even better. The photographer who shot the time lapse up above, Jean-Luc Dauvergne of Ciel et Espace, must have really wanted that experience: He travelled all the way to the Central Asian country of Tajikistan for a good look at the total lunar eclipse of June 2011.

Dauvergne said the country's Pamir region was the perfect place to record the moon's passage for five hours, with the eclipse itself lasting for two hours.

It's a perfect illustration of just how dramatic the effect of suddenly blotting out the moonlight can be: The opening seconds aren't shot by day. That's what the landscape looked like through the camera in the moon's full glare, before it vanished beneath shadow, revealing the deep starscape that had been drowned out by the moonlight.

If you can get somewhere dark, you'll have a chance to see something similar, especially in Western Canada: the next total lunar eclipse is scheduled for Wednesday, October 8.

NASA made Dauvergne's video its Astronomy Picture of the Day on Sunday. That great soundtrack comes from Valère Leroy & Sophie Huet of Space-Music.

WANT MORE? Watch the timelapse below, from the I.S.S., of an aurora, the Milky Way and several satellites.