A total lunar eclipse was visible overnight in much of the world, with the bright red moon providing a beautiful spectacle for Australians who were willing to get out of bed in the middle of the night to see it.
The eastern hemisphere, including Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia, was in the line of sight of the phenomenon this time around, with photographers capturing its brief appearance in extraordinary images.
For about an hour and 22 minutes, from 3.30am to 4.52am AEST on Monday morning, the moon was in its “totality” phase on Australia’s east coast, with the eclipse formally ending by 5.56am.
The moon, however, was low in the sky for gazers in eastern cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, and therefore some viewpoints may have been obstructed.
West Australians had a better view of the phenomenon, but they would have had to get out of bed at an even more unfavourable hour (or delay going to bed at all). The totality phase began at 1.30am in WA.
A total lunar eclipse takes place when a full moon moves into the umbra, or the inner part, of the Earth’s shadow, with some of the sunlight passing through the atmosphere lighting up its surface.
In these conditions, colours with longer wavelengths, such as red and orange, can make it through the Earth’s atmosphere, while the shorter blues and violets scatter. This makes the Moon appear orange or red during a lunar eclipse.
The colour can be deeper or lighter depending on the amount of dust in the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as factors such as cloud cover.