Danjon Number and RGB-colors in Total Lunar Eclipse: 2000-2017

摘要

The apparent magnitude and chromaticity of the lunar disk during the maximum phase of a totaleclipse of the Moon inform about the atmospheric optical thickness and the average column density ofaerosols in the Earth's atmosphere. The estimation of the magnitude of the total lunar eclipse has beenused for paleoclimatology studies and has been correlated with global volcanic activity; hence theimportance of its quantification. However, the qualitative scale used to determine the magnitude andchromaticity, known as Danjon's number, is not sufficient to unambiguously characterize thesemagnitudes. A methodology is sought to determine a well-defined scalar, which links the Danjonnumber to the RGB digital color of the photographs, called the Danjon Factor (FD); and the resultsobtained for all the total eclipses of Luna occurred in the period 2000-2017. It is concluded that theDanjon Factor is an effective measure of the magnitude and chromaticity calculable through the digitalRGB color in the Total Lunar Eclipses.