Lunar eclipse shown live from across the globe

Image copyright NASA Image caption Some parts of the world will get a full lunar eclipse while others will have a partial eclipse

A lunar eclipse have been shown live across the globe from Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

People from the UK could watch the eclipse on the daytime on Saturday, while those in the Americas, the Indian Ocean and Russia had to wait until a dark lunar eclipse was visible at night.

The partial eclipse begins at 23:54 BST and lasts until 25:48 BST.

The full eclipse and associated partial eclipse begin at 02:50 BST and will last until 05:25 BST.

It is only the third time a total lunar eclipse has been visible since 1866.

Viewers in Europe and the Americas were treated to the first part of the eclipse (hence the date and time on the map), before darkness falls over the world.

Image copyright SWNS Image caption The moon will be visible from Australia and New Zealand

The third and final part of the total eclipse will also be visible in the two regions and across parts of the western Pacific.

The lowest lunar temperatures will be right at the point at which the moon is entirely immersed in Earth’s shadow – at 00:16 BST on Sunday.

Visibility will also be patchy, depending on your latitude.

The best time to catch the full eclipse and almost the entire eclipse – according to images from NASA’s Space Stream – is from 08:11 GMT to 08:33 GMT.

That is because it will be almost completely obscured by the moon’s thin shadow by 08:10 GMT in some parts of Europe and Africa.

The partial eclipse will be seen when the partial shadow on the moon reaches most of the Earth (crossover).

Image copyright NASA Image caption The moon won’t appear black throughout the eclipse because it is illuminated by Earth’s atmosphere

The temperature will take a dive, too, which will be most pronounced in the “middle portion” of the eclipse, the peak viewing time.

The Earth’s light refracts as it passes through our atmosphere and still gets to the moon and gives it its reddish hue.

The moon is a much smaller target, then, because the atmosphere lets so much of our blue light through.

Image copyright Gareth Blackburn Image caption The temperatures in these pictures will be very cold for half of the total eclipse

If you do catch it, you will be able to watch it via a variety of methods – from observing in the skies to projecting images on to your sky-writing tablet.

Online telescopes were tuned to West African wavelengths to allow a view of the eclipse and there will be a special website with photographic versions of the eclipse.

The eclipse will start as the moon is below the horizon, but will rise in the western skies. It will then be visible in the western hemisphere, except in New Zealand, which will be covered by darkness.

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