by A Blood Moon eclipse swept through populated areas in the Americas, Antarctica, Europe, Africa on Sunday (May 15th) and Monday (May 16th).
The total eclipse occurred as the moon moved in the shadow of the Earth. As sunlight refracted around the edges of our planet’s atmosphere, the red hue shone on the moon’s surface.
The big event started with a partial eclipse on Sunday (May 15) at 22:28 EDT (0228 GMT on Monday, May 16), according to TimeandDate.com. The Blood Moon peaks around 12:11 a.m. EDT (0411 GMT), with the eclipse ending at 1:55 p.m. EDT (0555 GMT).
A massive eclipse, which occurs when the moon passes over the edge of the Earth’s shadow, began and ended about an hour after the partial eclipse in New Zealand, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. This produced a more subtle effect, as the light shadow of the Earth fell on the moon, which was visible only in certain conditions.
The red color was very visible in this LiveScience reader photo taken by Robyn and Mike Morris from San Bruno, on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.
From Houston, reader Rukhsar Mahmood immortalized the moon just before it began to be covered by the shadow of the Earth.
“The experience was wonderful,” Mahmood wrote. “I liked to see the moon look so big at night and it started to get smaller. Then it started to be covered by this red / black shield and little by little, the whole moon was covered and the moonlight was nowhere to be seen.”
You can see the haunted lunar image below.
The full crimson color of Blood Moon was captured in this reader photo by Gregg Collins at the Oregon Bend.
Moon Eclipse tonight! #LunarEclipse #waukee #iowa pic.twitter.com/WetSnvj2k2May 16, 2022
@NASA_Lunar #LunarEclipse # lunareclipse2022 from South Africa pic.twitter.com/pyIPPCDgJRMay 16, 2022
Looks like a science fiction movie out with the lunar eclipse. # Totaleclipseoftheheart #LunarEclipse pic.twitter.com/wioOnaE4ufMay 16, 2022
Amazing #LunarEclipse #EclipseLunar tonight here in #ElCampello, Spain! Pure magic! Seen from the 14th floor of Rompeolas, #CaboVerde. 🤩🌑🌚 pic.twitter.com/KZdBNePnfUMay 16, 2022
Ça y est la lune de sang! Elle sstoppe dans lever de soleil en France 🤩😍🤩😍👏. Magnifique spectacle de notre ballet cosmique. # Lune #LunarEclipse #eclipse #LUNA pic.twitter.com/QBjpIu0cE6May 16, 2022
Brighton, UK 4.10 p.m. #LunarEclipse pic.twitter.com/aGvWU5pMY0May 16, 2022
The lunar eclipse was cool #LunarEclipse pic.twitter.com/YL9l0c7knxMay 16, 2022
#LunarEclipse as seen from #Venice #Italy pic.twitter.com/cFtoe16pejMay 16, 2022
The second (and last) lunar eclipse this year will take place on November 8, 2022 with at least partial visibility from Asia, Australia, North America, parts of northern and eastern Europe, the Arctic and most of South America. Our sister site, Space.com, also has eclipses in the future.
Author’s note: If you took an amazing lunar eclipse photo and want to share it with Live Science readers, send your photos, comments, and your name and location to community@livescience.com.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace.
