Lunar eclipse coinciding with supermoon dazzles

Gulf Today Report

The moon put on a show for many parts of the world Wednesday, as the first total lunar eclipse in more than two years coincided with a supermoon.

Stargazers across the Pacific cast their eyes skyward to witness a rare "Super Blood moon", as the heavens aligned to bring a spectacular lunar eclipse.

A yacht sails past as the moon rises in Sydney.

The blazing orange moon dazzled as it hung over the skies of the Pacific as well as the western half of North America, parts of South America and eastern Asia.

The moon is pictured from Sanur beach near Denpasar on Indonesia resort island of Bali.

The reddish-orange color of the super "blood” moon is the result of all the sunrises and sunsets in Earth’s atmosphere projected onto the surface of the eclipsed moon.

More lunar shows are coming. On Nov. 19, there will be a nearly total eclipse where the moon dims but doesn’t turn red.

A cyclist uses a cellphone to photograph the full moon, known as the "Super Flower moon".

The next total lunar eclipse will be May 2022. The last one was January 2019.

The moon darkened and turned red -- a result of sunlight refracting off the Earth's rim onto the lunar surface -- basking our satellite in a sunrise- or sunset-tinged glow.

Unlike a solar eclipse, the phenomenon was safely visible to the naked eye.

This eclipse was different because it happened during a "Super moon" when the moon passes a mere 360,000 kilometres (225,000 miles) from Earth.