Crowds gathered at Griffith Observatory to witness super blood wolf moon, total lunar eclipse

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A science teacher sat on a blanket on the grounds of Griffith Observatory for hours waiting to see the total lunar eclipse and super blood wolf moon Sunday night.

She'd never seen a lunar eclipse before and wasn't about to miss this one.

"I don't remember ever seeing a lunar eclipse before and I know it won't happen for another two years, so that's really exciting to be here," Victoria Rivas Castro said.

She just flew in from a conference where she spent time learning about teaching science in 3-D. Sunday's celestial events just added to what she'll bring back to her students.

But for one young man, it wasn't his first eclipse.

"I was in Italy in Rome. It was a full blood moon. It was very nice. We had the best view," Vittorio Pezzan said.

Even at 10 years old, he knew how romantic it could be.

"It's just so beautiful to see this. I could spend hundreds of dollars just to watch this every day," he said.

What people saw as they gazed up was the moon being covered by the earth's shadow and then turning coppery in color - a super blood wolf moon. It's not at all a scientific term for the eclipse, but the name does mean something.

The wolf references the name of January's full moon. Every month has one.

As for the blood part, that references the color it reaches when the earth's shadow covers the moon entirely.

"It feels awesome, especially being here and everybody just kind of howling. It's a cool experience," Castro said.

A Griffith Observatory spokeswoman said about 2,500 people were there to witness the event despite the 55-degree weather.

The next full lunar eclipse isn't until May 26, 2021.