Borders astronomers enjoy seeing red

The phenomenon, partly caused by a lunar eclipse, makes the surface of the moon appear red in colour and seem brighter and closer to earth than normal.

It occurs when a blood moon and supermoon happen simultaneously and was best seen here at around 5.10am.

Astronomers were especially keen to see this year’s, pictured here at Lindean, near Selkirk, by Curtis Welsh, as it’s the last of its kind for two years.

“We’re going into this unusual lull in total lunar eclipses over the next couple of years, so this is a really good one to catch as it’s going to be a long time before you catch another one like this,” said Tom Kerss, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

“We will have other lunar eclipses. We just won’t have anything quite as spectacular until May 2021.”

The supermoon and blood moon parts of the phenomenon’s name come from its brightness and ruddiness respectively, and a full moon in January is sometimes called a wolf moon.