Last night the total lunar eclipse lasted about three and a half hours, starting as a partial eclipse about 1:33 a.m. ET and finishing at 5:01 a.m. ET.
The last lunar eclipse to happen on the day of the winter solstice was in 1638.
That meant the moon appeared very high in the night sky, as the solstice marks the time when Earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun.
Only watchers across North America, Greenland and Iceland were able to see the eclipse (and areas with clear skies).
According to NASA, a lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth lines up between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's rays and casting its shadow on the moon, according to NASA. As the moon moves into the Earth's shadow, it appears to change color, turning from gray to orange or deep red. The new color stems from indirect sunlight that passes through Earth's atmosphere and casts a glow on the moon, NASA said. Our atmosphere filters out most of the blue colored light, leaving the red and orange hues.
Lunar eclipses differ from their solar counterparts, as no special equipment is needed for viewing. NASA will stream a live video feed of the eclipse from a camera mounted at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Last night was the last chance for those in the continental United States to see a total lunar ecllipse until April 15, 2014, according to NASA.
Since we missed it in Erie, watch the lunar eclipse (with some intermitent cloud cover):
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