Skygazers in Britain were able to witness the rare Super Blood Wolf Moon during the early hours of Monday morning. Some were left disappointed with cloud cover blocking the phenomenon for many trying to catch a glimpse of the 2019 lunar eclipse. The rare blood moon is the only total lunar eclipse of 2019 and appeared in a brief window in the UK, with the eclipse peaking between Sunday, January 20, and Monday, January 21.
During the eclipse, the moon turned deep-red to orange colour as it moved into the earth’s shadow.
In the video, the moon is seen an orange colour with the rare event filmed in London.
The rare Blood Moon, caused in part by a lunar eclipse, makes the surface of the moon appear a reddish hue while seeming brighter and closer to earth than normal.
Catching a glimpse of the curiously-titled event was down to luck for many in the UK trying to catch a glimpse of the event.
Met Office forecaster Mark Wilson said: “There’s a lot cloud around, but there are some breaks to enjoy the lunar eclipse as well.
“Across lots of central England and northern England there’s quite a lot of lower cloud around, but there are still some breaks in cloud particularly over south-east England and parts of south-west England as well.
“It’s kind of a mixed bag – further towards the north there’s more in the way of cloud as well affecting parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, so probably not great visibility up there, unfortunately.”
A Super Blood Wold Moon occurs when a blood moon and supermoon occur simultaneously and was best seen from the UK at around 5.10am – providing clouds did not obstruct the view.
The optimum viewing time was at around 5.12am when the eclipse was at its peak.
Astronomers are particularly interested in this year’s blood moon as it is the last of its kind for two years.
“We’re going into this unusual lull in total lunar eclipses over the next couple of years,” explained Tom Kerss, an astronomer from the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
“So this is a really good one to catch as it’s going to be a long time before you catch another one like this, we will have other lunar eclipses, we just won’t have anything quite as spectacular until May 2021.”
NASA live-streamed the event for viewers who had the event ruined by cloud cover in the UK.
North and South America were blessed with some of the best views of the rare Super Blood Wolf Moon eclipse, with parts of Europe also getting a good view.