VIDEO: Wellesbourne photographer captures video of Super blue moon

A WELLESBOURNE based photographer managed to capture the recent lunar event called the ‘super blue blood moon’ as it rose up behind the Chesterton Windmill in Warwickshire.

The area landmark - Chesterton's windmill – isn’t far from the village, and was built in 1632. It’s said to have originally been built as an observatory for Sir Edward Peyto, who was an astronomer. But it quickly became a working mill after being built.

It took some extended preparation time, but David Clarke managed to get video footage and still photos of the moon as it rose up behind the windmill on Wednesday 31 January.

Mr Clarke said: “I’ve always wanted to do a feature with it. I was aware we were going to be having this blue blood moon. I noticed the position in the sky might be good. I did a bit of research on the internet.”

Some areas of the world such as Australia, Asia, parts of the US and Eastern Europe, experienced a lunar eclipse.

"Super moons" happen when a full moon is closest to the Earth, appearing bigger and brighter than normal.

A "Blue Moon" is what’s called the second full moon in a month. So the super moon on 31also the second full moon of that month. They also happen every two and a half years, on average. The word "blood" has been used to describe the colour of the sunlight that passes through Earth's atmosphere lighting up the moon.

Mr Clarke’s preparation involved finding a place about a half mile from the windmill and waited for about half an hour for just the right time to click the photos and film the video.

He added: “There’s quite a bit of calculation involved. I went onto Google Earth so I knew where pretty accurately where the moon would come up. It actually came up right behind the windmill.”

The moon rose above the horizon at 4.48pm and actually came up behind the windmill around 5.20pm.

Mr Clarke said: “When I first got there it was a bit cloudy, but it cleared. It actually just worked out perfectly. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for three or four years.”