Supermoon and lunar eclipse delight stargazers
A supermoon illuminated the skies around the world, coinciding with a rare partial lunar eclipse.
On Tuesday night, the Moon appeared brighter and larger than usual. Supermoons occur when the Moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit.
This rare partial lunar eclipse, during which Earth’s shadow covers a portion of the Moon, saw about 4% of the Moon’s surface shrouded in darkness.
From Tuesday night into Wednesday, the partial eclipse was visible globally, with particularly clear views in the UK and the US. In the UK, the event took place between 01:40 and 05:47 BST, peaking at 03:44.
For those in the US, the eclipse is visible between 20:41 EST and 00:47 – or 22:44 at its maximum.
The eclipse was also visible in Latin America, Europe and Africa, as well as small parts of Asia and the Middle East .
This month’s full moon – known as the Harvest moon – is the second of four “supermoons” this year.
The next partial eclipse will be in August 2026, which will be special as around 96% of the Moon will be in shadow.
