By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Those Sumner County residents who were wanted to brave the 32 degree night at 2 a.m. this morning were treated to a spectacular show – this one free of charge.

In the south sky, there was a total lunar eclipse and the moon turned into a coppery red ball. The skies were perfect for such viewing in Sumner County this morning.

The first faint traces of the Earth’s shadow began to fall across the moon’s surface at 1:20 a.m. The total eclipse — when the entire moon was bathed in Earth’s shadow started at 2:07 a.m. and lasted until 3:25 a.m.

Ed Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory told CNN that this is one of four lunar eclipses this year. North Americas will see a blood moon a total of four times Tuesday and October 8 this year, and April 4 and September 28 next year.

“The fact that there are four lunar successions coming this year and next … is unusual,” Krupp said. “But it’s not the kind of thing astronomers get worked up about . It doesn’t really mean anything. It’s a chance arrangement of gravity and the motions of objects in the solar system, primarily the Earth and moon.”

If you miss it Tuesday, there will be more opportunities.

It’s the first in a series of four consecutive total lunar eclipses known as the tetrad. The phenomenon will repeat itself three more times in six-month intervals ending in September 2015.

In a total lunar eclipse, the moon gets a red sheen as it passes behind the Earth into its umbra (shadow).

“Since Earth’s umbral shadow is darker in the center than at the edge, the moon’s appearance will likely change dramatically with time as the total phase progresses,” NASA said in a statement.

The blood moon starts to change from its silver color as it slides into the Earth’s shadow, NASA said.

Sumner County residents saw the “blood moon” begin at 2:07 a.m., with the best part of the show — the total eclipse portion — lasting through 3:24 a.m. ET.

There were a lot of people in eastern United States who were at the mercy of the cloud cover, which hid the show from half of the country. But not here in Wellington, where the sky was absolutely perfoect.

People in the Americas will watch the entire spectacle while observers in the western Pacific will catch the second half of the event, NASA said. Europe and Africa won’t see much — the moon will be setting in most of those continents during the eclipse.

Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view with the naked eye. No special filters are required to safeguard your eyes.

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