UK stargazers wake up to rare ‘blood moon’ partial lunar eclipse

Early risers were able to witness a partial lunar eclipse – or “blood moon” – before dawn on Friday.

A “blood moon” is created when the moon moves into Earth’s shadow, gradually darkening before turning red.

In a partial lunar eclipse, the sun, Earth and moon are almost, rather than fully, aligned. This means a dark section appears on the moon.

Ashley Cooper, from Freshwater in the Isle of Wight, was pleasantly surprised to see the blood moon from a field near his house.

“I didn’t actually expect to see anything,” the 31-year-old gardener told the PA news agency.

“I just happened to wake up early, and knowing it was taking place, I looked out and saw it.

“I grabbed my binoculars and headed to a field near my home to watch the eclipse develop.

“It was lovely and clear until just before the moon set, a low haze obscured the moonset.”

A lunar eclipse is visible above Canary Wharf in London as the full moon passes into Earth’s shadow (Yui Mok/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Yui Mok

Astronomer Jake Foster, at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said: “When the Earth comes between the sun and the moon, the only sunlight that can reach the moon must first pass through the Earth’s atmosphere.

“As sunlight enters the atmosphere, different wavelengths (and therefore colours) of light will be scattered and bounced around by differing amounts. Blue light scatters a great deal, which is why our skies are blue.

“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.”

A picture of the blood moon taken through binoculars on the Isle of Wight (Ashley Cooper/PA)

The moon started to turn red at around 5.30am and became most visible just before 6.30am.

The last total lunar eclipse was in May 2022 when the moon turned completely red.