African continent witnessed longest Lunar eclipse of the century

South Africa and Egypt were among the countries able to witness the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century in its entirety on Friday .

Clear skies over Johannesburg meant residents were treated to an uninterrupted view of the eclipsed moon coloured red commonly referred to as a ‘blood moon.’

“It was really incredible to experience. I mean, it’s the longest lunar eclipse of the century. So it’s something that I’ve never quite experienced before and it was incredible to experience”, South African resident Monare Maten.

It was really incredible to experience. I mean, it's the longest lunar eclipse of the century. So it's something that I've never quite experienced before and it was incredible to experience.

“Actually it looks very different today. It looks bigger and browner. So yeah, it definitely looks very different today”, remarked Local Congolese resident Dez Denga.

In Egypt, a group of enthusiasts escaped the city’s bright lights for the desert to view the eclipse.

In a small guided tour, the group drove almost two hours into the desert southwest of Cairo and took turns viewing the eclipse from their telescope.

The fullest eclipse, at 20:22 GMT, was visible from Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, much of Asia and Australia though clouds blocked out the moon in some places.

NASA said, the moon spent a total of 3 hours and 54 minutes in the earth’s umbral shadow.

The next lunar eclipse of such a length is due in 2123.

Reuters