If you’ve looked up at the blood moon tonight, you may have noticed something strange about it. It’s red! Technically, it isn’t actually red, but it sure looks like it. And thanks to the upcoming blood moon eclipse on September 28th and 29th, 2018, we wanted to answer one very important question about this beautiful phenomenon: what is a blood moon? That’s where we come in!
Where did the term blood moon come from?
According to Biblehub, the expression ‘blood moon’ comes from Joel 2:31 (and is quoted in Acts 2:20): ‘The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Yahweh.’ The ‘day of Yahweh’ refers to God’s final judgment on humanity. How often do we see them?: Lunar eclipses happen about twice a year. Solar eclipses happen about once every 18 months or so. But it has been almost 40 years since there was a lunar eclipse that was visible across all of North America! This one won’t happen again until 2033. That’s why it’s such an amazing event for us to witness! What causes a blood moon?: A lunar eclipse happens when Earth passes between the Sun and Moon. When sunlight shines through our atmosphere onto our planet’s shadow, it creates red light. Hence, a ‘blood moon’ occurs during an eclipse. What does a blood moon look like?: During most total lunar eclipses, you’ll notice that the color of light changes slowly at first as Earth blocks more and more sunlight from reaching our satellite.
How often do blood moons occur, and how long are they visible in the sky?
A lunar eclipse, also known as a blood moon, occurs when Earth passes between its natural satellite and our planet’s only true source of light—the sun. Lunar eclipses occur about twice each year on average, though it can be up to four times more or less depending on how close to the new moon phase an eclipse occurs. Because they happen at night, most people don’t notice them. However, during a total lunar eclipse—when Earth completely blocks out sunlight from reaching our satellite—you can expect to see quite a bit of reddish-orange tinting in your sky. In fact, that’s why these types of eclipses are sometimes called blood moons.
Are there any other significant celestial events happening during this upcoming blood moon event this April 2018
No, there’s nothing else significant happening with any of the other planets, stars or constellations during April’s blood moon event. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch! The next total lunar eclipse won’t be until January 2019, so now is your chance to see it all unfold in real time. The best part: You don’t need anything more than your own two eyes to see it happen—and if you have those two things on hand, then all you need is to find out when exactly to look up in order to catch a glimpse. We’ll tell you what date and time that will be in just a bit. (Hint: It will probably be sometime late at night.) Why do we call them blood moons: Because they are sometimes referred to as blood moons, but not always. The term blood moon can be traced back to Christian pastor John Hagee, who wrote a book called Four Blood Moons: Something Is About To Change in 2013.
What causes a total lunar eclipse, partial lunar eclipse, or blood moon?
A total lunar eclipse happens when our natural satellite passes completely through Earth’s shadow. As mentioned, it’s also possible for part of it to move into Earth’s shadow instead (that’s a partial eclipse). The reddish color of these events is due to light that passes through our planet’s atmosphere; as with our sunrises and sunsets, different wavelengths of light are scattered at different angles. What causes all of that redness? Our atmosphere scatters shorter-wavelength blue light more than longer-wavelength red light, so during an eclipse—when sunlight has been filtered by our atmosphere—we see only longer-wavelength red light reflected off of our moon. That’s why we see it turn blood-red during an eclipse. And if you happen to be on another planet or in space looking back at us, you’ll see our moon appear dark in comparison to other full moons. In fact, NASA astronauts have reported seeing spectacular views of these eclipses from space.
When was the last blood moon visible in the United States, why was it so important then, and what happened on that day?
The last time that we saw an eclipse that was nearly as remarkable as last night’s blood moon was back in 1967. Known as The Six-Day War, it was one of three wars that Israel has been engaged in since its inception in 1948. The other two were known as The War of Attrition and Operation Opera. In each case, there is no question as to why these wars took place. However, what happened on June 7th in 1967 remains somewhat mysterious and up for debate. What is clear is that at 1:28 AM Jerusalem time (7:28 PM GMT) an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft took off from Tel Nof Airbase outside of Rehovot with orders to conduct a surveillance mission over Syria. The flight path would take them south along the coast until they reached El Arish in Egypt where they would turn west towards their target area. At some point during their flight, Syrian air defenses detected them and fired upon them with surface-to-air missiles. The plane went down near Kibbutz Harduf killing all four crew members onboard.
Where can I watch these upcoming blood moons in action for myself during this historic 2018 tetrad of total lunar eclipses throughout all four seasons starting with an April 14 total lunar eclipse followed by another on Oct. 7; another on April 4, 2019; and concluding with one last total lunar eclipse on Sept. 28, 2021.
Go out to an open field, look up at that big, blue sky and watch as God paints his masterpiece in broad strokes across the canvas of night. The eclipse will be visible all over North America, much of South America, southern Africa, western Europe and northern parts of Asia. Unfortunately there won’t be a total lunar eclipse in Australia on April 14 so if you want to see it live you’ll need to plan for 2021 when Australia joins along with eastern parts of Asia. For those wanting to catch one of these four eclipses from start to finish you’re looking at about six hours of time between moonrise and moonset throughout each year. If seeing a blood moon is your only goal then start looking about 45 minutes before sunset or sunrise (whichever comes first) because that is when these celestial events begin. This can vary by location though, so check your local weather report beforehand just in case.
