It was quite the sight to see early Tuesday as parts of the U.S., including the Bay area, were treated to a lunar eclipse.

The total lunar eclipse, visible in the Western Hemisphere, was created as the moon was eclipsed by the Earth's shadow. The "blood red" shading of the moon lasted 78 minutes, from 3:06 a.m. to 4:24 a.m.

Along Manatee Beach, the stargazers gathered at the Bishop Planetarium to take in the rare image.

"I mean this is probably the tenth time I've tried to do an eclipse," said photographer Le Moyne Johnson. "And it's the first time it's happened where it's not raining or it's not cloudy or, oh, gee the eclipse is just before sunset, so you don't get to see anything you know."

But for about 20 minutes, the beach goers got a full, cloudless look at the moon.

When the moon becomes engulfed in the earth's shadow, the only light hitting it will be the sunlight that is refracted by the earth's atmosphere. The only light not filtered out is red, so the moon becomes darker and becomes red or orange to the naked eye.

Hence, the name "blood-red moon."

A lunar eclipse is different from a solar eclipse, in which the moon passes in front of the sun. There were two solar eclipses last year, including a rare hybrid eclipse last November in which parts of the earth saw a total eclipse and part saw an annular eclipse.

An annular eclipse happens when the earth sun and moon are in a direct line and the sun appears in the skies as a ring. The Southern Hemisphere will be treated to one of those April 29.

Tuesday's event is the first in a "tetrad" of four total lunar eclipses that will be visible from most of North America. The others will happen on Oct. 8, next April 4 and next Sept. 28.

Planetarium Director Jeff Rodgers was asked if the event made him feel small in the grand scheme of things.

"No, it makes me feel big," he said. "Knowing what's going on.We can predict these things. I mean we've got these things down literally to a science. And that makes me feel empowered. So no, it doesn't make me feel small. It makes me feel pretty big in the universe."