Eclipsed by the earth

Gavin held his 41st birthday celebrations amid the shingle last Saturdayto give himself the best chance of seeing the rare event.

His efforts paid off with this photograph taken at 11.30pm when the eclipse was at its most complete. The usual pale white colour of the moon was replaced by a coppery-red glow.

Gavin, of Aldwick Road, said: 'It's the uniqueness of the eclipse that makes it special. It gives you a sense of your place in the universe.

'You think about what people must have thought about this sort of event 2,000 years ago when they didn't have the expert knowledge that we do now.

'Even now, the totality of the eclipse lasted for more than an hour. You started to lose faith that the moon was ever going to come back.'

He chose Pagham beach for his eclipse spotting because the lack of artificial illumination enabled the night sky to be viewed more clearly.

The lunar eclipse could be seen from the UK for the first time since 2004 but the clear sky led to astronomers describing it as one of the most impressive in a generation.

The eclipse started just after 8pm and the moon did not fully re-emerge until nearly 2am. The total eclipse lasted for about 75 minutes of that period as the earth moved between the sun and the moon.

This left the moon only reflecting back light from our planet, giving it a copper-red glow.