Rare supermoon and partial lunar eclipse light up Welsh skies

A 'rare' double phenomena of a supermoon and a partial lunar eclipse lit up skies across the UK on Tuesday night.

Stargazers, space enthusiasts and photographers were treated to clear skies, meaning the moon appeared extra bright overnight – with 4% of the moon covered by the Earth's shadow in a partial eclipse.

It led to people across Wales snapping spectacular pictures of the sight.

What is a supermoon?

A supermoon occurs when a full lunar phase lines up with a particularly close orbit around Earth.

Due to the moon being full, and closer to our planet than usual, it appeared bigger and brighter in the sky - earning it the title of "supermoon".

What is a partial lunar eclipse?

A lunar eclipse is when the earth blocks the moon from the sun's light, causing a shadow on the face of the moon.A partial lunar eclipse happens when a shadow darkens a sliver of the moon.

As the partial eclipse involves blocking some of the sun's light, the moon was slightly dimmer than a regular supermoon.

The Earth, moon and sun line up to produce a solar or lunar eclipse anywhere from four to seven times a year, according to NASA.

Meanwhile, supermoons only happen three to four times a year, and always appear consecutively.

Supermoons can even cause higher tides than usual because the Moon is in its closest approach to Earth.

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