Supermoon lunar eclipse 2015: Amazing pictures of once in a generation event - live
Seen from the UK, a rare blood-red eclipse started at 1:10am (BST) on Monday - join us for the best of the photographs and reaction
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• Rare lunar eclipse began at 1:10am (BST)
• The celestial event has not occurred since 1982 - and will not be repeated until 2033
• Blood moon in pictures: the eclipse as it is seen around the world
• Have you taken an amazing picture of the moon? Email it in tomypic@telegraph.co.uk
03.50
Right then, where are we up to? The blood moon will stay in full eclipse for about an hour, meaning now is the best time to see it in all its red/pink/orangey glory. After that, the red tones will slowly fade as the moon emerges from the Earth's shadow. For the rest of the night the Supermoon will still be incredibly big and bright, so lots to stay awake for.
03.30
Wow - the Supermoon is very red in this shot. Amazing.
03.20
Lots of images of the blood moon are starting to come through, with red tones clearly visible:
#live: tonight's #Supermoon #total #Eclipse #bloodmoon#mooneclipse thank you: http://t.co/rhV7muHDYgpic.twitter.com/r2rvseeUCR
— Jamila Mehnik (@jamilamehnik) September 28, 2015
Beautiful! #SuperMoon pic.twitter.com/HAPzh5nCcV
— Tammy (@SKMom75) September 28, 2015
And sky-watchers are a little bit excited:
03.10
Our correspondent in New York, Harriet Alexander reports:
In Manhattan, crowds are on the streets standing and staring at the sky.
I'm outside a Mexican cafe and the waiters have all poured out to look.
One man is explaining, in Spanish, the concept to his colleagues. Another is on the phone to his mother in Mexico: "Esta muy bonita," he said.
A 4x4 has just driven slowly past the crowds, with the driver winding down his window to yell: "Eclipse! Yeah!"
03.00
Definitely looking orangey-red in Arizona:
And the colours are very strong in this shot:
02.55
A reminder that we are about 20 minutes from the full eclipse.
02.50
You can start to see the reddish glow of the blood moon in this photograph by Rick Haslam:
02.35
Some beautiful eclipse pictures as we approach the half-way point:
02.25
Here is a clearer eclipse shot, with a fairly big chunk of the moon now obscured:
02.15
Some early eclipse photos are coming in - and they are pretty blurry.
02.00
IPhones not getting a lot of love tonight from people trying to capture images of the Supermoon on their mobiles...
01.40
For those looking up at cloudy skies:
01.20
As we await the first images of the eclipse, here is a lighter take on Supermoon mania:
01.05
Is it a streetlight? No, it's Supermoon:
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/supermoon?src=hash">#supermoon is still as bright as the streetlights. I wish I had a good lens!pic.twitter.com/N2WvCExeDt
01.00
Just ten minutes to go until the eclipse begins.
12.55
Let's spare a thought for people in parts of the US, where clouds are obscuring their view of the Supermoon.
Elsewhere, in crystal clear skies, it is looking like this:
00.50
The Supermoon looks more like the sun in this image from Boston:
And this one from Rivington:
00.40
Here's some suggested listening for tonight's Supermoon viewing:
00.30
Some advice for sky-watchers via the Press Association:
Anyone staying up to see the red moon is in for a "quite an unusual sight", according to Society for Popular Astronomy vice president Robin Scagell.
His tips are to arm yourself with binoculars and look out for the deep redness in the sky when the moon is fully in shadow.
The shade will depend on the atmospheric conditions, and there may be a bluish tinge at the moon's edge.
Unlike with a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is completely safe to observe through binoculars or a small telescope.
00.20
The Supermoon turns a beautiful pink in Dorset:
The Coastguard Rescue Helicopter crosses the historic moon shortly before the lunar eclipse on its way to the Jurassic Coast in Dorset where three people cut-off by the tide were rescued in a combined effort with the Lyme Regis Lifeboat Photo: Richard Austin
And glows bright yellow in Derbyshire:
A supermoon rises above Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire Photo: Ross Parry / SWNS
00.10
A reminder that we have just one hour to go until the eclipse begins in the skies over Britain - if you haven't done it already set your alarms for 1.10am.
00.00
Russ McNally has taken a great shot of the Supermoon from Merseyside:
And here it is starting to take on a more orangey hue over Bradford:
23.50
In other space news, it seems the clever people over at Nasa have solved the mystery to life on Mars and are about to announce their findings.
23.40
The Supermoon is looking pretty impressive from Yorkshire.
23.30
Good news! Skies are clear over Britain tonight.
23.20
Here are some more beautiful shots of the moon as it rises:
An astronomer is silhouetted in front of the supermoon in Brighton as he prepares for the lunar eclipse Photo: Jordan Mansfield/Getty
The supermoon rises into the sky over St Mary's Lighthouse Whitley Bay North Tyneside Photo: North News & Pictures
The last of this year's supermoons is seen behind an electricity pylon in Le Pallet, France Photo: Reuters
23.10
While the eclipse itself isn't taking place for a few hours yet, people are taking some amazing pictures of the Supermoon and posting them on Twitter.
23.00
This is useful from Mashable: how to take the best Supermoon photos.
21.40
Still not sure quite what all the fuss is about? Here's some nifty explainers from the people who know best, Nasa:
21.00
Welcome to the Telegraph's supermoon lunar eclipse liveblog. Join us throughout the night as we bring you the best of the photographs and social media reaction from around the world. The biggest spectacle won't start until after 1am, but already we are seeing some stunning pictures of the moon. If you would like to see your photographs published here in our liveblog, send them to mypic@telegraph.co.uk. Our favourite image so far is the picture from Glastonbury Tor:
The supermoon rises behind Glastonbury Tor Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty
The supermoon rises above Brighton Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville
The supermoon over London's skyline Photo: Jeremy O'Donnell
A flock of birds fly by as the supermoon rises in Mir, Belarus, 95 kilometers west of capital Minsk, Belarus Photo: AP/Sergei Grits
The supermoon silhouettes television and radio antennas on Boutilier Mountain, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Photo: AP/Dieu Nalio Chery
A cross atop of a local monastery is seen silhouetted against the moon in the settlement of Poschupovo in Ryazan region, Russia Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
The moon is seen above a cross channel ferry leaving the port of Dover Photo: REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
Everything you need to know about the supermoon lunar eclipse
Amateur astronomers will be given a rare chance to capture a spectacular celestial event that has not occurred for 30 years - a lunar eclipse with the moon near to its closest point to the Earth.
An awe-inspiring blood-red "supermoon" will cast its eerie light on the Earth early on Monday, creating an atmosphere of wonder and fear across the world.
When the moon is at "perigee", its shortest distance from the Earth, it is 226,000 miles away and appears 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than when it is at its furthermost point.
The last time this coincided with a lunar eclipse, when the moon is covered by the Earth's shadow, was in 1982 and the event will not be repeated until 2033.
During a lunar eclipse, the moon turns a deep rusty red, due to sunlight being scattered by the Earth's atmosphere.
Down through the ages, so-called "blood moons" have been viewed as ill-omens by superstitious people.
For some - religious groups and believers in astrology - the eclipse will be dreadful in the most literal sense, a sign that the End of Days is approaching.
Monday's eclipse is said to be even more significant, since it marks the completion of an unusual line-up of four total eclipses at six monthly intervals known as a "tetrad".
Interactive: Supermoon lunar eclipse
When can I see the lunar eclipse?
From the UK, the moon starts to enter the Earth's shadow at 01:10 early on Monday morning.
How long will the eclipse last?
The moon will be completely within the shadow from 03:11 to 04:24. The eclipse ends when the moon leaves the shadow at 0624.
What will I see?
When the eclipse is at its maximum, the moon will be just above the tree tops.
The phenomenon is well worth staying up for, according to leading amateur astronomer Robin Scagell.
He said: "From a UK point of view, it's happening at a most unsuitable time, but I would say it's definitely worth setting the alarm for to look out and see this red moon hanging over the tree tops."
Why will the moon turn red?
The Earth's atmosphere scatters more blue light, so that the light reaching the lunar surface is predominantly red.
Observers on Earth see a moon that may be brick-coloured, rusty, blood red, or sometimes dark grey depending on the atmospheric conditions.
Is the end nigh?
Joel 2:31 in the Bible says: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord comes."
The blood-red full moon has happened only five times since 1900 and will be the last in a sequence of four in a row occurring at six-monthly intervals on biblical feast days - a so-called "biblical tetrad".
A cross is seen as the moon is illuminated by sunlight reflected off the Earth during a total lunar eclipse, one of four so-called 'blood moons' Photo: Getty Images
Throughout history, these incredibly rare events have been associated with major global events and disasters.
The 1493 tetrad was marked by the expulsion of the Jews by the Catholic Spanish Inquisition and in 1949 another tetrad coincided with the establishment of the state of Israel. Furthermore in 1967 the tetrad occured at the same time as the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War.
However, while lunar tetrads can be rare - there were none between 1600 and 1900 - Nasa says the pattern is largely random and there will be eight in the 21st century.
When can I next see a lunar eclipse?
It will be the last total lunar eclipse visible from the UK until 2019.
When did this last happen?
The previous three total lunar eclipses in the tetrad occurred on April 15 2014, October 8 2014, and April 4 2015, but were not visible from the UK. A tetrad cycle like this one hasn't been seen since 1982 and won't begin again until 2032.
The most recent occurrences of the big red moon took place in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964, and 1982.
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