Group Gathers On Mt. Washington For Lunar Eclipse

PITTSBURGH - (KDKA/AP) - About a dozen people gathered on Mount Washington early Wednesday morning to watch a full lunar eclipse.

A group of people, including a CMU astronomer, gathered on Grandview Avenue to watch the show.

The group was out bright and early armed with their cameras and binoculars. They gathered at the peak of the city to catch a glimpse of it.

"I came up to see the moon. See the eclipse and it is quite spectacular," Patrick Finnegan from Hampton said.

The "blood moon" is caused by the light from the sun that comes though the atmosphere, curving onto the moon and then refracting.

Diane Turnshek is an astronomer at Carnegie Mellon University and also teaches at Pitt. She says it's not necessarily uncommon.

"This one goes on for hours. It's very cool. It turns blood red because of the atmosphere of the Earth. It's almost through the penumbra so it was a full moon and then the shadow of the Earth is crossing in front of the moon and you can see the Earth is curved," Turnshek said.

Wednesday morning's eclipse marks the second in a series of four. They'll be another in April and September of 2015 before taking a small hiatus.

KDKA viewer Ken Winovich from Pittsburgh was videotaping the lunar eclipse when a jet flew in front of it, creating quite the site.

James Eles: It's only once in a blue moon that a lunar eclipse comes out, so I had to come out and see it.

KDKA'S Christine D'Antonio: Pun Intended?

Eles: Pun Intended.

North Americans had prime viewing of the full lunar eclipse, especially in the West. The full moon was obscured by Earth's shadow in the predawn hours. The total eclipse lasted about an hour.

It was also visible across Australia and much of Asia. Only Europe, Africa and the eastern tip of Brazil didn't get the show.

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