People around the world are watching the skies to observe a rare celestial event, as a lunar eclipse coincides with a so-called "supermoon".
A supermoon occurs when the Moon is in the closest part of its orbit to Earth, meaning it appears larger in the sky.
The eclipse - which made the Moon appear red - should be visible in North America, South America, West Africa and Western Europe.
This phenomenon last time was observed in 1982 and is not expected until 2033.
But the definition of a supermoon is debated among astronomers.
Skywatchers in the western half of North America, the rest of Europe and Africa, the Middle East and South Asia were expected to see a partial eclipse.
From the UK, observers saw the Moon pass through the Earth's shadow in the early hours of Monday morning. In North and South America the eclipse will be seen on Sunday evening.
Image copyrightNASA
Eclipse facts
The supermoon, where Earth's satellite is near its minimum distance from our planet, means that the Moon will appear 7-8% larger in the sky.
The moon may look rust-coloured during a total lunar eclipse - giving rise to its nickname Blood Moon. This is because the Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light more strongly than red light, and it is this red light that reaches the lunar surface
During the eclipse, the Moon lies in front of the stars of the constellation Pisces
Eclipse contact points (see map)
Time (UTC)
P1
00:11:47
U1
01:07:11
U2
02:11:10
Greatest
02:47:07
U3
03:23:05
U4
04:27:03
P4
05:22:27
In a total lunar eclipse, the Earth, Sun and Moon are almost exactly in line and the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun.
As the full Moon moves into our planet's shadow, it dims dramatically but usually remains visible, lit by sunlight that passes through the Earth's atmosphere.
As this light travels through our planet's gaseous envelope, the green to violet portions get filtered out more than the red portion, with the result that light reaching the lunar surface is predominantly red in colour.
Observers on Earth may see a Moon that is brick-coloured, rusty, blood red or sometimes dark grey, depending on terrestrial conditions.
Dr Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the UK's Royal Astronomical Society, told BBC News that the eclipse is an "incredibly beautiful event".
A supermoon occurs when a full or new moon coincides with a Moon that is nearing its minimum distance (perigee) to Earth.
The Moon takes an elliptical orbit around Earth, which means that its average distance changes from as far as 405,000km (its apogee) to as close as 363,000km at the perigee.
The coincidence between a supermoon and an eclipse means that Earth's lone companion is expected to look 7-8% bigger. But Dr Massey added: "The definition of 'supermoon' is slightly problematic.
Media captionKeith Cowing, editor of nasawatch.com, explains the science behind the supermoon eclipse
"Is a supermoon taking place at the perigee, the day before, the day after? Does a supermoon have to be a particularly close perigee, or can it be a bit further out? It's not very well defined."
He said a supermoon was to some extent a moveable feast compared with an eclipse, where the timing can be measured precisely.
As a result, Dr Massey explained, claims of the extreme rarity of a supermoon coinciding with an eclipse were overstated.
The supermoon should also not be confused with the Moon Illusion, which causes the Moon to appear larger near the horizon than it does higher up in the sky.
The eclipse began at 00:11 GMT, when the Moon entered the lightest part of the Earth's shadow, known as the penumbra, and adopted a yellowish colour. At 02:11 GMT the Moon completely entered the umbra - the inner dark corpus of our planet's shadow.
The point of greatest eclipse occurred at 02:47 GMT, when the Moon was closest to the centre of the umbra. The show will be over by 05:22 GMT on Monday.
The Royal Astronomical Society says that unlike the solar equivalent, a total lunar eclipse event is safe to watch and needs no special equipment.
Syria conflict: Russia wants 'co-ordination' against IS
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a regional "co-ordinating structure" against Islamic State (IS).
Mr Putin reiterated his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who Western countries and the Syrian opposition have said must go.
The crisis is expected to be high on the agenda as world leaders gather at the UN in New York.
Mr Putin will hold rare talks with US President Barack Obama to discuss the issue later on Monday.
Relations between Russia and the West have been strained over Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula last year and support for separatist rebels.
In a separate development, UK Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to soften his stance against Mr Assad in a speech this week.
Mr Cameron - along with Mr Obama and French President Francois Hollande - has previously demanded that Mr Assad be removed from power as a condition of any peace deal, a position consistently rejected by Mr Putin.
Speaking as he arrived in New York on Sunday, Mr Cameron said: "[Bashar al-] Assad can't be part of Syria's future. He has butchered his own people. He has helped create this conflict and this migration crisis. He is one of the great recruiting sergeants for Isil [IS]."
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani - a key regional ally of President Assad - said the government in Damascus "can't be weakened" if IS militants were to be defeated.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
European leaders are intensifying calls for a diplomatic push in Syria in the wake of a massive influx of refugees heading for Europe.
Image copyrightReutersImage captionUS Secretary of State John Kerry (L) discussed the crisis with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Sunday
The urgency of finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict has also been reinforced by a Russian military build-up in Syria in support of Mr Assad's regime.
Iraq on Sunday announced that it had signed an agreement on security and intelligence co-operation with Russia, Iran and Syria to help combat IS.
US 'concerns'
In an interview with CBS television, Mr Putin said the Syrian president's troops were "the only legitimate conventional army there".
He said the troops were fighting terrorist organisations, and Russia "would be pleased to find common ground for joint action against the terrorists".
US Secretary of State John Kerry, however, said the efforts were "not yet co-ordinated" and the US had "concerns about how we are going to go forward".
Analysis: Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East Editor
Two factors have put Syria on the priority list for the leaders gathering in New York for the UN General Assembly. One is the threat posed by the jihadists of Islamic State. The other is the refugee emergency, which means that the reverberations of the Syrian war have reached Western Europe.
Now, the military priority is hitting IS.
The British hope that their new stance on President Assad might help to break the deadlock over Syria in the UN Security Council, which has crippled diplomatic attempts to find a way to stop the war.
If the rift in the Security Council over Syria cannot be repaired, Mr Cameron's call for a new diplomatic initiative to end the war won't change anything.
On Sunday, France said it had carried out its first air strikes against IS in Syria, destroying a training camp.
A US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq for more than a year. France, like the UK, has previously confined its air strikes against the Islamic State group to Iraqi airspace.
The UK announced earlier this month it had carried out a drone strike against two British citizens in Syria but has yet to fly manned operations in Syrian airspace.
More than 200,000 Syrians have been killed since the country erupted into civil war in 2011, and Islamic State took control of swathes of the country in 2014. Mr Assad has been accused of killing tens of thousands of his own citizens with indiscriminate bombing in rebel-held areas.
Approximately four million Syrians have fled abroad so far - the vast majority are in neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan - and more are on the move.
Media captionBBC reporter Tchima Illa Issoufou: "I lost my aunt as a result of the stampede"
Saudi Arabia's King Salman has ordered a safety review for the Hajj pilgrimage after at least 717 people died in a stampede near the holy city of Mecca.
Another 863 people were injured in the incident at Mina, which occurred as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj's last major rite.
It is the deadliest incident to occur during the pilgrimage in 25 years.
The king said there was a need "to improve the level of organisation and management of movement" of pilgrims.
A commission to investigate the crush has been formed by the Saudi government
The Saudi health minister, Khaled al-Falih, said the crush occurred because many pilgrims moved "without respecting the timetables" established by authorities
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, which lost at least 95 of its citizens in the crush, said the Saudi government "must accept the huge responsibility", adding that "mismanagement and improper actions" were to blame
Pope Francis, who is visiting the US, expressed his "sentiments of closeness" with Muslims, during a prayer service at St Patrick's Cathedral in New York.
It is the second disaster to strike Mecca in two weeks, after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque, killing 109 people.
Media captionFootage from Saudi television shows ambulances and people with stretchers tending to injured pilgrims
As part of the Hajj, pilgrims travel to Mina, a large valley about 5km (3 miles) from Mecca, to throw seven stones at pillars called Jamarat, which represent the devil.
The pillars stand where Satan is believed to have tempted the Prophet Abraham.
The accident occurred at 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT) as pilgrims were walking towards the five-storey structure which surrounds the pillars, known as the Jamarat Bridge.
Maj Gen Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi interior ministry, said the crush occurred when two large groups of pilgrims converged from different directions on to one street.
Photographs showed the bodies of dozens of pilgrims on the ground, some piled high. They were all dressed in the simple white garments worn during the Hajj.
Image copyrightAFP/Getty ImagesImage caption"Dead bodies stretch as far as my eyes can see," one BBC employee in Mina saidImage copyrightSPAImage captionHundreds of thousands of people continued to the Jamarat pillars despite the tragedy earlierImage copyrightAPImage captionPilgrims converge on Mina to cast stones at three pillars representing the devil
"I saw someone trip over someone in a wheelchair and several people tripping over him," Abdullah Lotfy, from Egypt, told the Associated Press. "People were climbing over one another just to breathe."
"Dead bodies stretch as far as my eyes can see," said Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi, the BBC's Abuja editor, who is in Mina.
The civil defence directorate said the victims were of "different nationalities", without providing details.
The BBC understands at least three Indonesians, and some pilgrims from Niger, are among the dead.
The UK Foreign Office said it was urgently seeking more information about whether British nationals were involved.
Hajj: Previous tragedies
2006: 364 pilgrims die in a crush at foot of Jamarat Bridge in Mina
1997: 340 pilgrims are killed when fire fuelled by high winds sweeps through Mina's tent city
1994: 270 pilgrims die in a stampede during the stoning ritual
1990: 1,426 pilgrims, mainly Asian, die in a stampede in an overcrowded tunnel leading to holy sites
1987: 402 people die when security forces break up an anti-US demonstration by Iranian pilgrims
