It was a rare event for Earth and Alabama – a “super blue blood moon” with a lunar eclipse.

Earth passed between the moon and the sun just before sunrise this morning. Here in Alabama, we observed about 80 percent totality between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. under mostly clear skies. The eclipse was nearly 100 percent along the western coast of the United States.

As the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse, it takes on a reddish tint, hence the name “blood moon.”

As for the nickname “blue moon?” That happens when a full moon occurs twice in one month, as it did today. And what made the moon “super” was that it was closer to the Earth than normal and 14 percent brighter than usual, according to NASA.

It’s a lunar trifecta that hasn’t been witnessed in more than 35 years.

Time-lapse of the lunar eclipse over Birmingham from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.