Stargazers across Ireland have observed a blood red "supermoon" in the sky for the first time in 30 years.
The "supermoon" lunar eclipse, also known as a "blood moon", is one that appears bigger and brighter than usual as it reaches the point in its orbit that is closest to Earth.
Supermoon captured by @MicMacSuibh over Co Wicklow despite some cloudy skies https://t.co/sbEeslOlAs
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 28, 2015
The phenomenon was visible from North and South America, Europe, Africa and parts of West Asia and the eastern Pacific.
The spectacle began to unfold in Ireland at around 1am with the "total" phase - when the moon is in shadow - lasting from around 1am to 4am.
The moment of greatest eclipse was at 3.49am.The phenomena continued until the moon emerged from the Earth’s shadow after 6am.
Cloud cover over Ireland this morning was minimal, meaning the event could be seen from most parts of the country.
For more than an hour, Earth's shadow covered the full moon as the planet passed between the sun and the moon.
The brilliant white glow of the moon slowly transformed into a dim red.
The colouring was caused by Earth's atmosphere scattering sunlight into the shadow.
The next time a total eclipse of the moon will be visible from an Irish sky will be on 20 December 2029 and the last one was on 21 December 2010.
