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A view of the darkened Moon from Somerset early on Friday
The red Moon visible from Hornchurch in east London in the early hours of Friday morning
Early-rising stargazers in the UK woke up to a lunar eclipse just before dawn on Friday.
The eclipse was partial for most of the UK, with the Earth's shadow only covering part of the Moon.
But some western areas of the UK, as well as the Americas and some Pacific islands, saw a total lunar eclipse. It is the first since May 2022, when the Moon turned completely red.
A stunning "blood Moon" was created as the Moon moved into Earth's shadow, gradually darkening before turning a dusky red.
Reuters
The "blood Moon" as seen from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Reuters
The Moon before the total eclipse, as seen from Stonehenge
Stargazers around the world caught the first sign of the lunar event, which began at 05:09 GMT, on a livestream run by LA's Griffith Observatory.
A lunar eclipse happens when Earth moves directly between the Sun and the Moon, blocking sunlight and casting a shadow on the Moon's surface.
Kathleen Maitland caught a glimpse of the spectacle while stargazing at Pagham Harbour in West Sussex.
"You've got the sun coming up behind, then this Moon going into a sliver and turning red," she told the BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.
"It was amazing to watch."
A lunar eclipse takes place when the Moon passes through the outer region of Earth's shadow, called the penumbra.
A total lunar eclipse requires the Earth to obscure the light from the Sun hitting the Moon - meaning the three celestial objects have to be in alignment.
Getty Images
The Moon rises behind the Grand Camlica Mosque in Istanbul
AFP
People watch the eclipse at Galileo Galilei Planetarium in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Shutterstock
The Moon is seen behind the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Tower in New York City
AFP
Scientists look at the Moon displayed on a screen at the Foster Observatory in Santiago
People sometimes refer to a lunar eclipse as a "blood Moon" because of the way the Moon can turn a deep, coppery red during the eclipse.
This is caused by a process known as "Rayleigh scattering", which also makes the sky blue and our sunsets red.
When sunlight has to pass through the Earth's atmosphere to reach the Moon, this causes the Moon to appear a different colour, explained astronomer Jake Foster, at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
When light is deflected by the small particles in Earth's atmosphere, it scatters more of the shorter blue wavelengths, leaving longer red wavelengths to remain visible.
Mr Foster said: "Red light is mostly unaffected by the gases of the atmosphere, so it travels all the way through them and out the other side where it can shine on the Moon, making it appear red."
The next total lunar eclipse is due to take place at the start of September - but will be most prominent over central and east Asia, with only some parts of the UK seeing the total eclipse effect.
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