The moon put on its big show early Wednesday, as scheduled, and a lot of people dragged themselves out of bed to keep the appointment.

A good place to see the super blue blood lunar eclipse was the back deck of the Chabot Space and Science Center in the Oakland hills. At 3 a.m., just as the moon was getting itself organized, there were more folding chairs than at a tailgate party.

Ginny Garrett of Berkeley was sitting in one of them, munching an apple by the light of the penumbra.

“I’m a sucker for celestial events,” she said. “And this is a free show.”

Lunar eclipses, unlike their solar brethren, aren’t particularly rare. This one was special because the moon was at perigee — only 223,000 miles away, or as close to the Earth as it gets.

And Chabot, being at an elevation of 1,500 feet, made things that much closer.

“Eclipses let us experience science as a community,” said Chabot astronomer Gerald McKeegan. “Astronomers understand eclipses a lot more, so it’s not as thrilling to us as the general public.”

The show began at 3:48 a.m. as the moon entered the umbra, or shadow, of the Earth. Slowly, a chunk of it disappeared, like a cookie being nibbled. The tailgate crowd oohed as if it were a fireworks show.

Moon fans know that a blue moon isn’t blue, only unusual, being the second full moon of the month. It’s only unusual to humans, as the moon doesn’t know the day of the month. The “blood” part is different, because the moon takes on a reddish tint from the way the sunlight is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere. And the “super” part is because the moon’s closeness at perigee makes it look a tiny bit bigger.

Clear skies over the Bay Area also meant that once-a-year astronomy crowds didn’t have to venture too far afield. For those who made it to Chabot, being among like-minded folks in the wee hours made it more fun.

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Zoe Rennie of San Leandro brought her grandpa’s 70mm-aperture telescope and set it up on the viewing deck. She offered strangers a peek, because that’s what most people with telescopes do after they’re done looking themselves.

Rennie also said it was her birthday, although she acknowledged the eclipse had not been scheduled with that in mind.

“This really is a wonder of nature,” Rennie said. “And it brings me a sense of peace.”

The science center opened up its mighty 20-inch observatory telescope to the public, but that meant waiting in a long line for a short peek. Most eclipse fans were content with binoculars, their own or someone else’s.

As the eclipse entered its totality phase, the sky grew even darker and more stars decided to make an appearance. Astronomers like when that happens.

Dave White, a volunteer with the East Bay Astronomical Society, used his laser pointer to indicate lots of constellations, not just the big-ticket ones with dippers. Thanks to the pointer, everyone got familiar with the paws of Leo the lion.

Brian Guenther, an Oakland librarian, said the hardest part about getting up in the middle of the night for the eclipse would be staying awake during his shift amid the stacks of books.

“I’ll do my best,” he said. “I'll drink some tea. It’s worth it. The moon is doing its thing.”

Most eclipse viewers embraced the darkness of the moment, while others tried to snap cell phone pictures with flash. A docent explained that it wouldn’t work, as cell phone flashes only illuminate objects up to 15 feet away, and the moon was a bit further than that.

“Stop with the flashes,” she said at last. “Please. It’s ruining our visual acuity.”

Events that occur at times like 3:48 a.m. are special, but the lunar eclipse, in addition to everything else, was free to see Wednesday. The science center normally charges $18 for admission, but the box office is inside the building and all of the action was outdoors.

The eclipse wasn’t scheduled to end until 7:11 a.m., which was something of a moot point because the moon set half an hour earlier in the western sky.

“Nothing I can do about that,” McKeegan said.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF