It was a hit-and-miss affair for thousands of people who braved the cold to watch the moon turn red in a total lunar eclipse early today.
Cloud spoiled the view for many in Ireland and most of Britain, but early birds in parts of Wales and the south west of England had better views of the rare astrological event.
However, watchers from the eastern United States saw it easily and posted dozens of successful pictures on the internet.
The total eclipse occurred between 3.01 and 3.52am, with the partial eclipse beginning at 1.43am and finishing at 5.09am.
A total eclipse occurs when the full Moon moves into the Earth's shadow and although it becomes dimmed, it can still be seen because it is lit by the sunlight passing through the Earth's atmosphere.
Stronger atmospheric scattering of blue light means that the light that reaches the lunar surface is predominantly red in colour so observers on Earth saw the Moon to appear brick-coloured, rusty, blood-red or sometimes dark grey depending on the terrestrial conditions.
The next lunar eclipse will not be seen until December 2010.