Even if something happens once in a blue moon, it’s still not as rare, or gorgeous, as this.

Last night, people in Tokyo had their breath taken away, as well as several of their adjectives commandeered, by the appearance of a super blue blood moon. Rather than a celestial body born into extreme luxury, the super blue blood moon is the incredibly rare combination of a full moon that appears larger to the eye than normal (supermoon), the second full moon to come within a calendar month (blue moon), and the red color the moon is seen with during a lunar eclipse (blood moon).

In Tokyo, the phenomenon began to manifest shortly before 9 p.m., and was punctuated by office workers on their way home, as well as downtown diners and drinkers, turning their eyes skyward to appreciate the view.

Some of the most striking images were captured near the Skytree, the 634-meter (2,080-foot) spire that rises from the city’s Sumida Ward.

With its futuristic design, the Skytree adds an even more otherworldly look to the blood moon, which, depending on the angle, sometimes seemed to be almost balanced atop the tower’s tip.

▼ Skytyree (right) and Tokyo Tower (left)

▼ A time-lapse video of the moon moving across the heavens behind the Skytree

The orange glow of Tokyo Tower made for less contrast with the blood moon, but also imparted a warmer, more relaxed atmosphere to the sight.

Meanwhile, over on the west side of downtown, the scarlet moon appeared to pass through the paired towers of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, also known as Tocho.

And for those watching in less urban parts of the country, the blood moon looked less sci-fi and more mystical when sharing a field of vision with structures such as Ibaraki’s Toyoda Castle and a pagoda in Nagano Prefecture.

The next morning, it was back to overcast conditions with snow in the forecast, but at least when it needed to, the weather cooperated and gave Tokyo a gorgeous reason to step outside and look up in the cold.

Source: IT Media

Featured image: Twitter/@tetsu_skytree