World looks to the sky as rare 'blood moon' Lunar Eclipse comes into view

The world is looking to the skies for what is expected to be the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century.

Cloud cover is affecting UK skygazers but remarkable live shots across the globe and from space are showing the moon fading from view.

From New Delhi to Cairo and Hong Kong to London, here are a selection of some of the best photos taken of the rare event.

  • Video report by ITV News Reporter Paul Davies

A shot of the eclipse taken outside the Colosseum in Rome, Italy Credit: AP
The view fro Bareket Observatory, Israel Credit: NASA
Clouds over London as seen from Primerose Hill, obscuring a view of the eclipse. Credit: PA
The lunar eclipse as seen from Cairo, Egypt Credit: AP
The International Astronomy Center captures the eclipse. Credit: NASA

Here's everything you need to know about the phenomenon.

  • What is a lunar eclipse?

Also known as a "blood moon", a lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, putting the Moon in the Earth's shadow.

They only ever happen when there is a full moon, but there is not a lunar eclipse on every full moon because of the different plane of the Moon's orbit around the Earth.

READ: Your most googled questions about the lunar eclipse answered

When the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, it will turn a deep red colour because of sunlight being scattered by the Earth's atmosphere. This effect is known as "Rayleigh scattering".

This will be the second lunar eclipse of 2018 - the last one occurred in January.

  • Did you see the lunar eclipse on Friday? Send your pictures to yourstory@itv.com and they could feature on our website