Pattaya residents pointed cameras, cellphones and binoculars skyward in hopes of catching the perfect shot of the incredibly rare “super blue blood moon”.
It was a beautifully clear, almost cloudless sky allowing uninterrupted viewing of the complete celestial event.
From the Pratamnak Hill viewpoint to the roofs of condo towers, photographers with long lenses and tripods mixed with casual shutterbugs pointing mobile phone cameras to the heavens as the second full moon of January passed through the shadow of the Earth at its closest distance to the planet Jan. 31.
They were not disappointed. For more than 90 minutes, the moon glowed partially or full red under clear skies, a blessing for amateur astronomers who woke up to heavy rain and clouds that Wednesday.
A “super blue blood moon”, which last occurred over Europe in 1982, is the phenomenon where a full moon reaches perigee (super) for the second time in a month (blue) and passes through the Earth’s shadow, causing a lunar eclipse, which shows up as blood red.
