Stargazers saw the moon in a special light this week as it went through a partial lunar eclipse and turned blood red.
Monday night’s eclipse left about 25 per cent of the moon’s diameter covered as it passed through the Earth’s shadow, and was seen across most of Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Indian Ocean.
The moon appeared to turn red during the eclipse due to the way the sun’s light is refracted in the atmosphere, in a similar way to the mechanism that turns sunrises and sunsets red, according to timeanddate.com.
The partial eclipse occurred during the August full moon, also known as the Sturgeon Moon, was at its peak at 7:10pm on Monday night in the UK.
The name for the August full moon is believed to originate from early native American tribes who chose the title as the sturgeon first of the North American Great Lakes are more readily caught during this month.
Other tribal names for the August full moon are the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon.
As well as the commonly known September Harvest Moon, traditional names for other full moons include the Strawberry Moon in June, Wolf Moon in January and Worm Moon in March.
For people in the United States, there will be another lunar event worth watching before the end of the month however, when the sun, moon and Earth will line up perfectly in the cosmos and cause a near-total solar eclipse.
On 21 August, darkness will fall during the day as the moon eclipses the sun, causing temperatures to drop by up to 15 degrees. It will be the first lunar eclipse to cross the entirety of the US in 99 years.
Additional reporting by agencies
