Sell-out crowd attends super blood wolf moon viewing party in Oakland

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Just after 8:30 .p.m., the sun, earth and full moon aligned to create the super blood wolf moon in the skies above the Bay Area.

"That was unbelievable. I literally felt like I was watching a movie," says Fatima Mekkaoui of San Francisco. "Like somebody just (put up) a fake image background. It was unreal!"

She was among the hundreds who attended the sold-out viewing party at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland.

The earth casting a shadow the over moon is what makes the moon look blood red, which was met with cheers from the crowds at the moment the moon changed colors.

It's called a super moon because Sunday night the moon was at one of its closest points to the earth, making it look bigger and brighter than usual.

RELATED: Super blood wolf moon 2019: What to know about Sunday's eclipse

Native Americans gave special names to all 12 full moons. In January, wolves would come out look for food in the snow, thereby naming January's full moon the "wolf moon."

"I am very enamored by the moon, especially the super moons," says Ashwaq Hauter of San Francisco. "I actually didn't know what I would see, but it was kind of fantastical, if that makes sense?"

For those who came out, it did.

Sunday night's forecast was for clouds and rain, making it difficult for stargazers to actually see the moon. So Chabot moved the event indoors and played a live stream of the lunar eclipse.

But just after the eclipse began, the clouds parted and crowds rushed out to see the super blood wolf moon first hand.

Chabot astronomer Gerald McKeegan gave a lecture to the hundreds who came out before the start of the eclipse. He says astronomers have been able to predict lunar eclipses for more than 2,000 years.

PHOTOS: Mysterious streak of light seen in sky above California

So while this super blood wolf moon may not have produced any new science, it did produce some new science fans.

"For me it's just that it's an extraordinary event. You should pay attention when Mother Nature is putting on a show," says Becky Curry, who came out with her family from El Cerrito.

The next super blood wolf moon over the Bay Area will be in 2029.

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