Blood Moon Supermoon: When to watch
The Blood Moon is a rare natural phenomenon that coincides with a Lunar Eclipse. This event is called a Supermoon and it only occurs once every few years. The phenomenon causes the moon to become a deep crimson. The event is the culmination of a string of astronomical events.
The Blood Moon is, in fact, a rare and rather spectacular sight that is caused by the reflection of the sunlight on the Earth's atmosphere, which is red to the naked eye. The Blood Moon appears and acquires a golden, copper, or even a rusty red color depending on where the sun is and it's usually low in the sky or near the horizon.
The Blood Moon will be visible across more than half the planet where almost 1 billion viewers in the Western Hemisphere and 1.5 billion spanning Europe and Africa, along with 500 million in West Asia, will get a glimpse of this rare occurrence.
Aside from the fact that there will be a wide range of visibility all across the world, this Lunar Eclipse will also be the biggest one this year since the moon will also reach its perigee on the same day, which means that its closest point to Earth is at 221, 753 miles away from the surface of the Earth.
The arrival of the Blood Moon triggers some doomsday fears for some very religious observers. The Blood Moon arrives on the first night of the Jewish Holiday known as Sukkot, which has triggered some doomsday catastrophes among the religious.
The three most recent Blood Moon occurrences happened in April 2014 during the Passover, which continued in October 2014 also during the Sukkot and appeared again during the Passover of this year. These three, along with oncoming forth one this week, comprise a tetrad pattern. NASA predicts that this rare phenomenon will not occur again until 2033.
John Hagee, a popular American Evangelical Pastor, said that each Blood Moon occurrence throughout history has been linked to a time period that begins with a tragedy and ends with a triumph. The Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in 1492 marked Spain's expulsion of the Jews, the 1948 eclipse heralded the establishment of the State of Israel, and the 1967 eclipse marked the Six Day War. These three were the last three Blood Moon tetrads.
The Blood Moon will appear this Sunday, Sept. 27 in some areas, and on Monday, Sept. 28 in other areas.
