Super Blood Wolf Moon 2019: Stunning Photos of Total Lunar Eclipse From Around the World

Stargazers and photographers across much of the northern hemisphere have been treated to a rare celestial phenomenon. Not only did the full moon look larger and brighter than normal, it also turned an eerie shade of red. The dramatic sight was caused by a rare combination of several lunar events happening all at once, resulting in what is known as a Super Blood Wolf Moon.

Breaking those terms down, a "Super Moon" is the name for a full moon that is closer than usual to the Earth, making it look brighter and a little larger.

A "Blood Moon" occurs during a total lunar eclipse, when the Earth passes directly between the Sun and the moon, casting its shadow onto the moon. However, some of the Sun's rays bend around the Earth and are refracted through the atmosphere before faintly illuminating the moon with a dull reddish-orange light.

And "Wolf Moon"? Each full moon of the year has its own name, and the first full moon is known as the "Wolf Moon".

The phenomenon was visible in the U.S., Canada and South America, as well as parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, between 11:41 p.m. EST on January 20 and 00:53 a.m. on the morning of the following day. Keen stargazers spent hours outdoors on a bitterly cold January night, hoping to capture spectacular photos of the celestial event. Some succeeded spectacularly...

But not many of the photos posted on social media were that spectacular. Most people tried to photograph the phenomenon with their phones and were very disappointed with the results.

Photographing the moon is difficult enough on a normal night, but managing to get a bright, vibrant photo of a dull red moon during a total eclipse demands a good camera, an even better lens and a lot of photography knowledge.

But why bother learning how to use an expensive camera and spending hours sitting around waiting for something to happen on a cold winter's night, when you can just fake it?

Thankfully, there's one dedicated group of talented photographers who don't need to fake it. Professional news photographers around the world captured some amazing images of the lunar eclipse, juxtaposing the red moon with famous landmarks to give a sense of scale and drama.

In the slideshow below, Newsweek rounds up some of the best Super Blood Wolf Moon photos captured by professional photographers around the world.