Sacramento residents had some random opportunities to view the lunar eclipse on Monday night. In spite of winter storms lasting throughout the weekend, a few breaks in the clouds allowed for occasional viewing of the only total lunar eclipse in 2010. At some points, cloud cover obscured the view for as long as 20 minutes. NASA says the entire duration of the eclipse was about 3 1/2 hours.

More uniquely, this year's lunar eclipse fell on the same day as the winter solstice, something that hasn't happened in 372 years.

The photo was taken during the "totality" part of the eclipse. The moon was completely in the Earth's shadow for more than an hour. The reddish glow of the moon occurs when the sun's rays pass through the Earth's atmosphere while the Earth is directly between the sun and the moon.

Photo by Ron Nabity.