SOME locals have been known to howl at the moon - but it was their eyes that shifted to the moon this week.

Fascinated residents set their alarms to get up and witness a rare lunar eclipse in the skies over East Ayrshire.

In the early hours of Monday morning, September 28, keen amateur astronomers got to witness a Perigee Full Moon - better known as a ‘Supermoon’. There was no need to be alarmed as the moon turned from it’s usual white complexion to blood red.

The phenomenon was captured on camera by keen local amateur astronomer, Daniel Cameron from the Doon Valley Astronomy Society.

Daniel explained: “The Perigee Full Moon occurs when the moon is at it’s closest approach to Earth and coincides with the full moon. The moon is not always at the same distance away from the earth because its orbit is elliptical.

“The Lunar Eclipse happens when the moon passes directly behind the Earth into the Earth’s shadow. It just so happened that this Lunar Eclipse happened at the same time as the moon was at Perigee this time which is a coincidental phenomenon that has not happened since 1982 and will not occur again until 2033.” He added: “The moon appears red during a lunar eclipse because the Earth’s atmosphere scatters blue light more strongly than red light, and it is this red light that reaches the lunar surface.” The eclipse began at 1.11am and finished at 5.22am with the eclipse maximum occurring at 3.47am.

Daniel shot his spectacular photos through his telescope at Loudoun Hill just outside Darvel.