"Blood moon": Total lunar eclipse seen from the skies

A total lunar eclipse graced the sky over Santiago on Sunday, providing a night-time thrill for stargazers in Chile's capital.

The moon was bathed in the reflected red and orange hues of Earth's sunsets and sunrises for about an hour and a half.

It was one of the longest totalities of the decade and the first so-called "blood moon" in a year.

Observers in the eastern half of North America and all of Central and South America had prime seats for the whole show, weather permitting.

Partial stages of the eclipse were visible across Africa, Europe and the Middle East, but Alaska, Asia and Australia missed out on the celestial show.

A total eclipse occurs when Earth passes directly between the moon and the sun and casts a shadow on our constant, cosmic companion.

The moon was expected to be 225,000 miles (362,000 kilometres) away at the peak of the eclipse.