AN UNUSUAL SET of celestial circumstances came together last night as sky-watchers in Europe, Africa and the Americas witnessed a ’super blood wolf moon’.
The moon was slightly closer to Earth than usual, appearing bigger and brighter at the same time as the only total lunar eclipse of the year.
The eclipse lasted about three hours, with the first hour seeing the full moon gradually swallowed up by the shadow of the Earth.
That was followed by an hour of total eclipse, where the moon was not invisible but instead appeared tinted in hues of red, orange and pink, followed finally by its full reemergence, bright and shining.
In Ireland, the eclipse began at around 3:40am, and peaked at around 5:15am before ending just before 7am.
At its peak, where night skies were clear of clouds, with Venus and Jupiter shining brightly in the night sky.
A cluster of stars – known as the ‘Beehive Cluster’ – could also be seen above the moon when was eclipsed, according to Astronomy Ireland founder, David Moore.
But not everyone was fortunate enough to witness the moon: in London, for example, astronomy enthusiasts hopes were dashed by a cloudy night.
Total or partial lunar eclipses happen at least twice a year on average, Florent Deleflie, an astronomer at the Observatory of Paris-PSL told AFP.
However, it’s rare that a total lunar eclipse is visible on so many parts of the Earth’s land mass, as was the case last night.
Europeans last saw a total lunar eclipse in July 2018. The next chance for a glimpse at a lunar eclipse will be in 2022, but the entire continent won’t be able to see the totality of a lunar eclipse again until 2029.
North Americans may get their next glimpse of a blood moon in 2021 along the west coast and 2022 on the east coast.
© – AFP 2019 with additional reporting from Zuzia Whelan
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