Super blue blood moon looms over Hawke's Bay

Hawke's Bay Today photographer Paul Taylor captured the super blue blood moon over the Bay in the early hours. Photo/ Paul Taylor.

Hawke's Bay photographers and stargazers were treated to a spectacle as a super blue blood moon hung over the night sky on Wednesday night and this morning.

But while some saw the unique view, others throughout the country had their experience marred by cloud coverage.

The moon was in eclipse from 12.50am until 4.11am, and turned completely red between 1.51 and 3.07am.

Having the blue moon combined with a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse all on the same night has not happened since 1886 and will not occur again until 2037.

The eclipse was visible across the Pacific into Asia as the moon rose on Wednesday night and into the early hours of today.

A supermoon is a particularly close full or new moon, appearing somewhat brighter and bigger. A total lunar eclipse — or blood moon for its reddish tinge — has the moon completely bathed in Earth's shadow.

Peter Felhofer, president of the Northland Astronomical Society, said the moon would have been a spectacular sight for those who did see it.

He said in New Zealand the moon was technically not a blue moon because it happened about 2.30am on February 1, but for the rest of the world it is.

''It's particularly exciting that the lunar eclipse is happening on a super moon and the moon is expected to be anything from a deep red to purple, so it should be quite a sight for those who do see it."