Lunar eclipse 2023: October blood moon captured in stunning images around the world

Photographers around the world captured stunning images of this weekend’s partial lunar eclipse. Such eclipses happen when the moon’s orbit around Earth brings both bodies in line with the sun – an event known as syzygy.

This one was fully visible from the UK and the rest of Europe, as well as from Asia and Africa, where people could see a “blood moon” partially turning red, while people in parts of North America, South America and Australia simply saw the moon darken.

The photograph above, captured in Munich, Germany, just after 10pm local time, was taken through a short gap in the local cloud cover and shows the shadow of Earth encroaching over the moon.

Another photo, taken from New Delhi, India, by photographer Salman Ali, shows the partial lunar eclipse over the capital city.

Photographer Lorenzo Di Cola captured a series of 12 images from L’Aquila, Italy, showing the full evolution of the eclipse from that point. At the fullest extent of the eclipse, his image shows 6 per cent of the lunar surface being plunged into darkness.

Even during a full lunar eclipse, the moon isn’t totally dark, as sunlight is refracted by Earth’s atmosphere. Shorter wavelengths are scattered more readily, leaving longer wavelengths of light to hit the moon and causing a reddish hue, also known as a “blood moon”.