Nearly 2,000 curious skygazers converged at New Delhi’s Nehru Planetarium to witness the century’s longest lunar eclipse, but had to return disappointed as clouds completely surrounded the moon making it almost impossible to have a view.

Enthusiasts anxiously waited until past midnight for clouds to give way to the spectacular event to become visible, but the “blood moon”, when the Earth’s natural satellite turns strikingly red, remained elusive.

Many people didn’t pay a visit to the planetarium but were excited to witness the major celestial event with binoculars and cameras.

Twitter was flooded with tweets on how the weather played spoilsport.

Here are some of the reactions:

#LunarEclipse in Delhi 🙁#MoonEclipse No moon.. only clouds 🙁 pic.twitter.com/lYvkFQZibi

— Unapologetic Indian (@Delphic_Divs) July 27, 2018

Massive cloud cover means catching the #LunarEclipse in Delhi is a total bust. Meh.

— Dhruv (@DhruvBhutani) July 27, 2018

The biggest lunar eclipse of our lifetime and we are missing it because of cloud cover! 🤦🏻‍♂️ Damn you Delhi, Damn You! 🙄😒

— Cyrus Behram Dhabhar (@CyrusDhabhar) July 27, 2018

Only #clouds, no #moon in Delhi! Disappointed at not being able to catch a glimpse of the much awaited #LunarEclipse . Worse still, no #rains since yesterday afternoon! Hate this cloudy weather with no sun, moon or rain!#Delhi

— Dr. Deepak R. Sridhar (@DeepakRSridhar) July 28, 2018

Tried so hard watching the #lunareclipse2018 but #Delhi is so cloudy today, I could hear the flights but couldn’t sight them in the sky. #Sad #NoLuck #LunarEclipse pic.twitter.com/2x0RBE1Xxq

— Risha Bharathan (@risha_bharathan) July 27, 2018

Delhi couldn’t experience the lunar eclipse because of clouds.

— Sona (@TangledMemoria) July 27, 2018

#LunarEclipse delhi
Sadly not able to see it due to clouds covering #Noida #Delhi 😑

— Harshil (@harshil_indian) July 27, 2018

Several parts of north India, including Delhi, have been witnessing monsoon rains for the past a few days. The annual weather pattern prevented people from enjoying the spectacular celestial event witnessed across several parts of the world.

The planetarium had organised a “Moon Carnival” and set up special telescopes for people to experience the phenomenon. It had also organised a series of programmes, including shows on astronomy, eclipse and even street plays.

“Nothing was seen because of clouds,” N Rathnashree, director of Nehru Planetarium, said.

The total lunar eclipse also coincided with another relatively rare celestial phenomenon known as the Mars opposition, the closest approach of Mars to Earth.

(With agency inputs)