See the first Super Flower Blood Moon photos from May's total lunar eclipse

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It's sweeping across the Americas, Europe and other densely populated regions as we speak.

A full Super Flower Blood Moon is blooming in the night sky.

If the skies are clear right now, look outside tonight (Sunday, May 15) and early  Monday (May 16) to watch the red moon in eclipse. 

The event takes place during the Flower Moon, the May full moon, and it is also a supermoon tonight. These two milestones together make this the Super Flower Blood Moon of May 2022.

You can watch the lunar eclipse online in a series of webcasts live through 2:50 a.m. EDT (0650 GMT) on May 16.

Top telescope pick!

Celestron Astro Fi 102

(Image credit: Celestron)

Looking for a telescope for the next lunar eclipse? We recommend the Celestron Astro Fi 102 as the top pick in our best beginner's telescope guide. 

"This is really evocative, like a telescopic view of Mars," Slooh astronomer Bob Berman said during a live broadcast from the astronomy webcast service Sunday (May 15).

On the U.S. East Coast, the sky show began at 9:32 p.m. on Sunday (May 15; 0132 GMT on May 16), as the moon entered the penumbra, the lighter part of Earth's shadow, which occurs when Earth only partially obstructs the sun.

Related: How to watch the Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse online

A reader in Ottawa, Canada sent a smartphone photo of the Super Flower Blood Moon just emerging over the rooftops on May 15, 2022. (Image credit: Reader Supplied)

The moon turns red during the Super Flower Blood Moon total lunar eclipse of May 15, 2022 as seen by a telescope at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California. (Image credit: Griffith Observatory)

The Blood Moon will reach its peak at 12:11 a.m. EDT (0411 GMT) on Monday (May 16). The total eclipse will end at 12:53 a.m. EDT (0453 GMT) and then the moon will leave the umbra entirely at 1:55 a.m. EDT (0555 GMT) Note the penumbra will continue for another hour. 

Visibility map of the May 15 to 16, 2022 lunar eclipse. (Image credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio)
Related stories:

— Watch Space.com columnist Joe Rao talk upcoming lunar eclipse and meteor outburst
— Lunar eclipses: Everything you need to know

— Lunar eclipse 2022 guide: When, where & how to see them 

The next total lunar eclipse, on Nov. 8, 2022, will peak above the Pacific Ocean, and totality will be visible in the U.S. West, Eastern Asia and Australia.

If you plan to observe or photograph the lunar eclipse, you can find some useful tips in our guide. And you can also share your best snaps with us. 

Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing lunar eclipse photo and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com. 

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

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Elizabeth Howell
Elizabeth Howell
Former Staff Writer, Spaceflight (July 2022-November 2024)

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., was a staff writer in the spaceflight channel between 2022 and 2024 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years from 2012 to 2024. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, leading world coverage about a lost-and-found space tomato on the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams.