Total lunar eclipse totally eclipsed

Millions of eager astronomers across Scotland failed to witness the total lunar eclipse that occurred in the early hours of Thursday 21st February.

The event promised to showcase the power and elegance of the cosmos, but cloud cover amassing from Wednesday afternoon obscurred the phenomena.

Those hoping for a repeat of the clear skies of March last year, when Scotland was treated to a stunning view of the most recent total lunar eclipse, were disappointed.

The eclipse was hidden behind heavy cloud cover across most of the UK. Whilst viewers in the United States were able to post stunning pictures of the event onto the internet, only a few of those who had stayed up until three am in Britain were rewarded with a break in the clouds.

Edinburgh University student Corey Gibson said: “My flatmate and myself decided to stay up and had a look from our kitchen window, but I could hardly see the moon at all, and didn’t see any red colours. I was all a bit disappointing.”

Stargazers will have to wait until September 2015 for their next chance to witness a total lunar eclipse in the UK, according to the Royal Astronomical Society.

The spectacle is produced when the sun casts the earth’s shadow onto a full moon, while all three celestial bodies are lying in the same plane of orbit. Some sunlight, however, still reaches the moon, having been refracted through the earth’s atmosphere.

During this process, blue light within the sun’s rays is scattered. As a result, the light reaching the moon is predominantly red, making it appear anything from a rusty orange to a dark burgundy in colour.

An eclipse is thought to have inspired a Pink Floyd song of the same name on their celebrated album The Dark Side of the Moon. Any fans of the band left disappointed by Thursday’s overcast conditions might comfort themselves with an alternative selection of their tracks: ‘High Hopes,’ ‘Let There Be More Light,’ and ‘Obscured by Clouds’ are recommended.