The half covered moon is seen at the beginning of a lunar eclipse between the columns of the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, March 3, 2007. Amateur star-gazers and astronomers worldwide dusted off their telescopes and unsheathed their binoculars Saturday for the first total lunar eclipse in three years.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A rare lunar eclipse transformed the moon into a dark red orb Saturday night, thrilling stargazers and astronomers around the world, media reported on Monday.

    Partly visible on every continent, residents of Europe, Africa and the Middle East had the best view of the phenomenon, weather permitting.

    Lunar eclipses occur when Earth passes between the sun and the moon, an uncommon event because the moon spends most of its time either above or below the plane of Earth's orbit.

    Sunlight still reaches the moon during total eclipses, but it is refracted through Earth's atmosphere, bathing the moon in an eerie reddish light.

(Agencies)

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