Wednesday's super blue blood moon was an excuse for skywatchers everywhere to break out their telescopes and gaze upwards. The rare event, which hasn't happened since 1866, also coincided with a total lunar eclipse. 

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A blue moon is when two full moons occur within one calendar month. This ocurrs once every 2.7 years, acording to space.com.  A moon is called a supermoon when it is close to the Earth in its orbit and appears larger and brighter than usual, NPR reports. The January 31 supermoon is the moon's closest pass to Earth this year, and thus appears up to 30 percent brighter and up to 14 percent larger than normal.

(MORE: Watch Incredible Time-lapse of the Lunar Eclipse)

For 77 minutes, the full moon passed through the Earth's shadow, turning the moon orange. However, the total lunar eclipse was not visible everywhere. The best view in the U.S. was in the West along with Alaska and Hawaii. 

People all over the globe gathered to witness the event and snap photos as the eclipse ocurred. Click through the slideshow above to see it for yourself.