Occurence of the Blood Moon

The Blood Moon rarely takes place; they do not specifically occur. However, every once in a while, 4 total lunar eclipse happens in a row. This is called a lunar tetrad. Legend has it than an occurrence of a total lunar eclipse only occurs in about one in third. In the recent years, the first three total eclipses occurred on April 15th, 2014, October 8th, 2014, April 4th, 2015. The last total lunar eclipse of the tetrad in 2015 will be on September 28th 2015. Four of these total lunar eclipse can be seen from United States. 

Blood Moons may look red, as the name suggests. As haze has been an upcoming issue in some of the countries, the moon may look red. However, do not mistaken it as a Blood Moon. A lot of us are misguided by the fact that the moon is red. There is a rough idea on what date that the moon will be a total lunar eclipse as it has already been predicted from researches from NASA. 

Now why is the moon red? As mentioned above, it is caused by the haze in some countries. The layer of haze is causing the the moon to be red. However during the real phenomena, the light rays from the sun is blocked yet still lights up the Moon. Strangely, the light passes through the Earth’s atmosphere, sometimes causing the Moon to be red or brown. This phenomena is called the ‘Rayleigh Scattering.’

There are many shades of red during the time of the Eclipse. During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon can absorb many different shades of red, orange or gold. It all depends on the Earth’s atmosphere during that time. The amount of dust particles, water droplets, clouds and mist could affect the shade of the Moon. The volcanic dust and ash in the atmosphere can also make the Moon turn dark during an Eclipse. 

An apocalypse is nearing? Not to worry because this phenomena is not a red alert. Some believe the tetrad have a special message incorporated as the eclipses clash with some major Jewish festivals. The April 2014 and 2015 lunar eclipses occurred at the same time of Passover, while the October and September eclipses occur during the Feast of Tabernacle. Many say that this may have a special significance that may be linked to many questions about the coincidence. The fact is eight of the tetrads have coincidentally clashed with the Jewish holidays ever since the first century. There is an ultimate reason to not believe the world is ending soon. This topic has been so interesting and engaging, some decided to publish a book on this. A fun fact is if you happen to see a red ring surrounding the Earth from the Moon, it means that you will be anticipating the sunrises and sunsets taking place on the Earth!

Thank you.

By: Sharel Chong