The moon has put on a rare cosmic show: a red blue moon, super big and super bright.
It's the first time in 35 years a blue moon has synced up with a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse, or blood moon because of its red hue.
Australia and Asia had the best seats, along with Hawaii, Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. The western US also had good viewing, along with Russia.
At the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, hundreds gathered on the lawn in the wee hours under clear skies. Sky-gazers also lined the beach near the Santa Monica Pier, and in San Francisco's Marina district, a crowd gathered to watch the super blue blood moon, as NASA calls it, set over the Golden Gate Bridge.
On the other side of the Pacific, where it was already nightfall, hundreds descended on the Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho complex, where telescopes and binoculars were plentiful. A TV monitor showed zoom-in views of the moon, and a university professor gave a run-down as the eclipse unfolded.
"It's wonderful to be at this precious event and to have been able to see the moon looking so beautiful," said Mayumi Kimura, a visitor.
The US East Coast, Europe and most of South America and Africa were out of luck for the total eclipse. At Cape Canaveral, Florida, where a rocket delivered America's first satellite to orbit exactly 60 years ago - Explorer 1 - the blue super moon loomed large in the sky.
The second full moon in a calendar month is a blue moon. This one also happened to be an especially close and bright moon, or supermoon. Add a total eclipse, known as a blood moon for its red tint, and it was a lunar showstopper.
NASA called it a lunar trifecta: the first super blue blood moon since 1982. That combination won't happen again until 2037. For those looking ahead, the next supermoon is in February, the next blue moon is in March and the next total lunar eclipse is in July, according to NASA.
