Stargazers agape at rare supermoon eclipse

“Together have seen solar eclipse, two planets, now lunar”.

So it was a pleasant surprise – in central Jersey, at least – to look up and see the skies had cleared nearly on cue, allowing us to witness this spectacular event that won’t occur again until 2033.

Those in the United States, Europe, Africa and western Asia viewed the rare coupling, weather permitting, Sunday night or early Monday.

The event is also known as a “blood moon”.

It was the first one in 30 years, so did you manage to get a picture of the blood red “supermoon” in the skies over London and Kent?

Last night’s lunar eclipse combined with a so-called supermoon came and went in just over an hour.

During nighttime, this year’s supermoon lunar eclipse was visible to people in North and South America.

What happens during a total lunar eclipse? This series began in April 2014.

Supermoon takes place when the satellite is 31,000 miles nearer to Earth at its closest point called perigee compared to the most distant point (apogee).

But the last time a supermoon – when the moon is closest in its orbit to Earth – coincided with a lunar eclipse was 1982. This eclipse marks the end of a tetrad, or series of four total lunar eclipses set six months apart.

In February 1504, explorer Christopher Columbus used a blood moon to trick Jamaican natives who had been feeding him and his men, but cut them off when relations turned sour.

It is dubbed the “blood moon” because the eclipse makes an orange, reddish appearance of the moon.

The moon may appear around 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter, but the difference will be subtle to the human eye.