‘Blood Moon’, The First Super-moon Lunar Eclipse Since 1982

For the first time in decades, sky-watchers around the world witnessed a double spectacle of a swollen ‘supermoon’ bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse.

The total ‘supermoon’ lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, and the Earth’s shadow covers the surface of the moon.

Many refer to total eclipses as “blood moons,” or “hunters moons” due to the reddish-orange tint cast over the moon.

You are basically seeing all of the sunrises and the sunsets across the world, all at once, being reflected off the surface of the moon.
—Dr. Sarah Noble, Programme Scientist at NASA