Tuesday night’s breathtaking lunar eclipse also saw scores of locals capture the historic moment for posterity, with dozens of photos streaming into The Leader newsroom.

Whether it was in their backyards, a local park or the Lowe Observatory near Bendemeer, the region’s budding astronomers marvelled at the once-in-a-red-moon event that sees the Earth come exactly between the Moon and the Sun.

Tuesday night’s event was the first in a series of four lunar eclipses to happen this year.

Tamworth schoolteacher and amateur photographer Kim Tighe said it was a photo opportunity too tempting to resist.

“My husband’s interested in astronomy, so we piled the kids and the camera in the car and went looking for a good spot,” Mrs Tighe said.

“We ended up at Viaduct Park and it was all very exciting.”

Using a Nikon D5100 with a 135mm lens, Mrs Tighe captured a series of stunning photos.