Sussex photographers capture lunar eclipse ‘blood moon’

The country’s stargazers got the chance to see the rare spectacle for the first time since 2022.

The moon turned a deep, dark red – sometimes called a “blood moon” – as the Earth passed directly between the sun and the moon, casting its shadow across the lunar surface.

The moon partially shrouded by cloud (Image: Stuart Williams) The Argus’s camera club members managed to capture the natural phenomena, including Jan Budgen, Sue Barnett and Stuart Williams.

Photographer Eddie Mitchell also photographed the moon from Worthing.

(Image: EDDIE MITCHELL)

According to the Met Office, the moon took on a reddish hue because it was illuminated by light that has passed through the Earth’s atmosphere and had been bent back towards the moon by refraction, scattering blue light and allowing red wavelengths to reach the moon.

The moon over the South Downs (Image: Sue Barnett) Where skies were clear, the eclipse was visible at around 7.30pm.

The eclipse was visible to the naked eye and unlike solar eclipses was safe to view directly as the moon’s reflected light is not as bright.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich said the next partial lunar eclipse will not be until August 2026.