Tonight in the place of a normal bright full moon, the orbiting satellite will be a creepy shade of red. The night sky’s spectacular event is the first of four lunar eclipses that will take place both this year and next. Here is everything you should know about the ghastly blood red moon!
What is a blood moon?
A blood moon is so-called, due to the moon’s red hue during a total lunar eclipse. The United States will be in prime orbital position to witness a blood moon in the wee hours of tomorrow morning. “Depending on local weather conditions, the public will get a spectacular view looking into the sky as the moon’s appearance will change from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and perhaps gray,” explains NASA. “The eclipse is a phenomenon that occurs when the Earth, moon and sun are in perfect alignment, blanketing the moon in the Earth’s shadow.” The next time the U.S. will be in this position to witness a lunar eclipse is in 2019.
Why is it red?
NASA has the answer for us in the form of a helpful video, which is located below. The moon itself is rock and does not emanate any light of its own. The moon’s glow comes from reflected light from the sun; its position in relation to the Earth and sun is also the reason for its “changing” shape in the night sky. The moon has a tilted orbital path, which means that rather than us having an eclipse every month, total lunar eclipses happen far less frequently. As the moon passes through the center of the Earth’s shadow, known as the umbra, the moon gets significantly darker and then turns a blood red when it is fully engulfed by the Earth’s shadow. It is red “due to sunlight scattered through the earth’s atmosphere,” which reflects off the surface of the moon
The first Blood Moon eclipse in a series of four is coming up on the night of April 14-15, 2014. This total eclipse of the moon will be visible from the Americas. We in astronomy had not heard the term Blood Moon used in quite this way before this year, but now the term is becoming widespread in the media. The origin of the term is religious, at least according to Christian pastor John Hagee, who wrote a 2013 book about Blood Moons.
Meanwhile, both astronomers and some proponents of Christian prophesy are talking about the upcoming lunar tetrad – the series of four total lunar eclipses – beginning on the night of April 14-15.
We at EarthSky don’t have any special knowledge about the Blood Moons of Biblical prophesy. But, since they’re moons, and since people are asking us, we wanted to provide some info. Follow the links below to learn more about Blood Moons.
