A once-in-150-years super blue blood moon eclipse was spoiled for many New Zealanders last night by cloud cover, but it did emerge in some lucky pockets of the country.
There may have been some tired eyes this morning as star gazers across the globe celebrated a rare lunar event.
Footage of the lunar eclipse just after 1am this morning shows one of three separate celestial events that occurred.
For most of world, the spectacular cosmic event combined the eclipse with a blue moon and a super moon.
But because the lunar phenomenon technically happened in the first few hours of February 1 for Kiwis, it can not be classified as a "blue" moon.
Nevertheless, this rare celestial event is actually three separate moon events occurring simultaneously in one night.
A super moon takes place when the moon is at its closest point to earth during its elliptical orbit - this makes it appear 14 per cent larger than when it is at its further point and this has happened once already this year.
Auckland University Physicist Nicholas Rattenbury said the moon's expected "dusky red" glow will be a product of light refraction.
The blue moon term is used to describe a full moon taking place for the second time within a full calendar month.
The Christchurch Astronomical Society told 1 NEWS that this moon is technically not blue for us here in New Zealand, as it takes place on February 1 at 2.26am - a few hours too late in our time zone to be considered a blue moon.
However, for most of the planet, the coincidence of a super, blue and blood moon is a one-in-150-year occurrence.
A blood moon is a total lunar eclipse, where the Moon passes completely into Earth's shadow - this causes sunlight going past Earth to refract onto the Moon's surface, giving it a red colour.
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