The eerie light created from the lunar eclipse with the moon near to its closest point to the Earth delighted astronomers while filling others with dread.
Some religious groups and believers in astrology were convinced the spectacle is a sign that the End of Days was approaching.
The supermoon eclipse lasted for 1 hour and 11 minutes, and was visible in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of West Asia and the eastern Pacific.
Through the ages, so-called ‘blood moons’ have been viewed as ill omens by superstitious people.
Anyone who stayed up to see the red moon was in for a ‘quite an unusual sight’, according to Society for Popular Astronomy vice president Robin Scagell.
His tips were to arm yourself with binoculars and look out for the deep redness in the sky when the moon was fully in shadow.
Unlike with a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is completely safe to observe through binoculars or a small telescope.
Many believe this eclipse is significant as it marks the completion of an unusual line-up of four total eclipses at six-monthly intervals known as a ‘tetrad’.
Texan pastor John Hagee says this has only happened three times in the last 500 years and claims it is likely to herald a ‘hugely significant’ world event.
Since 1900 there have only been five 'supermoon' lunar eclipses – in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982.
Standard lunar eclipses are more common and it's thought that one can be seen from some point on the Earth every two-and-a-half years.
- Daily Mail UK
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