March 3 ‘blood moon’ total lunar eclipse dazzles millions around the world (photos)

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March 3 ‘blood moon’ total lunar eclipse dazzles millions around the world (photos)

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As the full moon began to set over North America in the early hours of March 3, it briefly plunged into the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, resulting in the last total lunar eclipse visible in the United States until 2029.

If you missed the early morning show, you can always watch it all unfold via live recordingsor enjoy some of the first images from the event below.

Photographer Frederic J. Brown captured the blood moon in partial shadow near the end of the eclipse, which lasted about an hour. — Photographer Frederic J. Brown of Los Angeles, California, captured the blood moon in partial shadow toward the tail of the eclipse, which lasted about an hour. (Image credit: Frédéric J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Lasting a total of about 5 hours and 39 minutes, the lunar eclipse began late at night for most skywatchers in North America, with the spectacular “totality” phase – the roughly hour-long period during which the moon drifts into the center of Earth’s dark shadow – lasting about an hour.

Viewers on the East Coast had a slim chance of seeing totality between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. EST, just as the moon was setting below the horizon. Those who live in the CST and PST time zones are more likely to see the moon turn red early in the morning (weather and cloud cover permitting).

The eclipse over Mexico — The “blood moon” shines behind the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City on March 3. (Image credit: Daniel Cardenas/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Skywatchers in Australia, New Zealand and East Asia also had auspicious views, with up to 3 billion people worldwide able to see at least part of the eclipse, according to Space.com, Live Science’s sister site.

The “blood moon” rises Tuesday morning above the skyline of Manila, Philippines. — In Manila, the capital of the Philippines, photographer Ted Aljibe photographed the blood moon rising over the city. During a lunar eclipse, the Earth moves between the Moon and the Sun, meaning it is the opposite of a solar eclipse. (Image credit: Photo by Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images)

Total lunar eclipses are also known as “blood moons”, due to the reddish tint that the moon takes on when he slips into the Earth’s shadow.

This is due to an effect known as Rayleigh scattering, in which different wavelengths of sunlight are selectively filtered through Earth’s atmosphere before reaching the Moon’s surface. The shorter, bluer wavelengths are absorbed by the atmosphere while the longer, redder ones pass through it, bloodying our moon. (If you think the effect looks cool from Earth, wait until you see what it looks like on the moon.)

A multiple exposure photo of the 'blood moon' over Golaghat in Assam, India. — A multiple exposure photo of the blood moon taken by photographer Biju Boro above Golaghat, India. A lunar eclipse like this only happens when the Moon is perfectly aligned behind our planet, relative to the sun. When the alignment is slightly off and sunlight can still directly hit part of the moon, it is a partial eclipse. (Image credit: Biju Boro/AFP via Getty Images)

Eclipses always occur in pairs, with each lunar eclipse falling two weeks before or after a solar eclipse. This year, a few lucky humans (and lots of penguins) were lucky enough to see a “Ring of fire” solar eclipse over Antarctica two weeks ago, February 17. This is what it looked like of the Franco-Italian Concordia research station in Antarctica.