Cincinnati ? Sky-watchers in every continent but Australia reveled in the relative rarity of a total lunar eclipse Saturday night — but as stargazers have noted for centuries, it was a matter of celestial perspective.

“From the moon, they’re having a solar eclipse,” said Dean Regas, an astronomer at the Cincinnati Observatory Center.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon, Earth and sun are in alignment and the moon passes through the planet’s shadow. In a solar eclipse, the Earth is in the moon’s shadow.

The Cincinnati Observatory, which claims to be the oldest in the United States, had one of its biggest nights ever Saturday, as officials estimated about 800 people stood in line for a chance to peer through the observatory’s telescope.

Unlike in May, when the last total lunar eclipse was visible from North America, the sky was mostly clear Saturday night — except for light, feathery clouds at the moment the moon was totally covered, about 7:10 p.m. CST.

In Lawrence, Kan., the sky was too overcast to see the eclipse.

Total lunar eclipses can range in color — from dark brown and red to bright orange, yellow and even gray — depending on how much dust and clouds are in the Earth’s atmosphere. Saturday night’s eclipse appeared light red to many people and brownish to others.

Residents of the eastern United States could view the eclipse from beginning to end, about 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., but it was already under way when the moon rose around sunset in the West.

The beginning of the lunar eclipse as observed Saturday from the Cincinnati Observatory in Ohio.

Lunar eclipses are expected on May 4 and Oct. 28 next year.