Google's latest doodle imitates lunar eclipse

If bad weather impeded your view of Wednesday''s lunar eclipse, do not despair: Google''s latest doodle is a replication of the phenomenon, from beginning to end.

The well-known search engine has taken the opportunity of the most recent lunar activity to publish its latest personalised logo. The eclipse could be seen in most of Europe, though visibility in the Basque Country was seriously affected by rain cloud.

The lunar doodle substitutes the second ''o'' of Google for an image of the moon, though it goes much further than that: By moving the little interactive knob up and down the scale which appears underneath the logo, the user can witness a reproduction of Wednesday''s eclipse in all its phases.

Google frequently marks important events, anniversaries and birthdays of historic characters from the worlds of cinema, music or science, so this latest ''eclipse'' doodle is no exception.

This year alone, through its doodles Google has paid homage to dancer Martha Graham, British children''s author and illustrator Roger Hargreaves and ornithologist John James Audubon.

However, undoubtedly its most famous doodle to date, and the most tried and tested among Google users, was the one it brought out last week to celebrate the birthday of the late father of the electric guitar, Les Paul.

On that occasion, Google substituted its usual logo for an electric guitar that allowed the user to play solos with the mouse or the keyboard. It attracted around 740 million users, the equivalent of 10.7 million man hours, according to Australian news.com. Unsurprising perhaps, as many worked out how to play some famous tunes on the doodle.

Only time will tell if Google''s latest doodle is such a huge sensation.