Lunar eclipse

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned (in syzygy) with Earth between the other two, and only on the night of a full moon. The type and length of a lunar eclipse depend on the Moon's proximity to either node of its orbit.

Total lunar eclipse (Blood Moon) from Lomita, California on 15 April 2014

The reddish color of totally eclipsed Moon is caused by Earth completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the Moon, with the only light reflected from the lunar surface has been refracted by Earth's atmosphere. This light appears reddish for the same reason that a sunset or sunrise does: the Rayleigh scattering of bluer light.

Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly 2 hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only up to a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Also unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view without any eye protection or special precautions, as they are dimmer than the full Moon.

Occurrance

At least two lunar eclipses and as many as five occur every year, although total lunar eclipses are significantly less common than partial lunar eclipses. If the date and time of an eclipse is known, the occurrences of upcoming eclipses are predictable using an eclipse cycle, like the saros. Eclipses occur only during an eclipse season, when the Sun appears to pass near either node of the Moon's orbit.

Cultural significance

Several cultures have myths related to lunar eclipses or allude to the lunar eclipse as being a good or bad omen. The Egyptians saw the eclipse as a the Set-pig swallowing (or otherwise attacking) Horus and swallowing his eye for a short time (this form of Set is depicted as the Aryt decan).

Other cultures view the eclipse as the Moon being swallowed by other animals, such as a jaguar in Mayan tradition, or a mythical three-legged toad known as Chan Chu in China. Some societies thought it was a demon swallowing the Moon, and that they could chase it away by throwing stones and curses at it. The Ancient Greeks correctly believed the Earth was round and used the shadow from the lunar eclipse as evidence. Some Hindus believe in the importance of bathing in the Ganges River following an eclipse because it will help to achieve salvation.

Inca

Similarly to the Mayans, the Incans believed that lunar eclipses occurred when a jaguar ate the Moon, which is why a blood moon looks red. The Incans also believed that once the jaguar finished eating the Moon, it could come down and devour all the animals on Earth, so they would take spears and shout at the Moon to keep it away.

Mesopotamians=== The ancient Mesopotamians believed that a lunar eclipse was when the Moon was being attacked by seven demons. This attack was more than just one on the Moon, however, for the Mesopotamians linked what happened in the sky with what happened on the land, and because the king of Mesopotamia represented the land, the seven demons were thought to be also attacking the king. In order to prevent this attack on the king, the Mesopotamians made someone pretend to be the king so they would be attacked instead of the true king. After the lunar eclipse was over, the substitute king was made to disappear (possibly by poisoning).

Chinese

In some Chinese cultures, people would ring bells to prevent a dragon or other wild animals from biting the Moon. In the 19th century, during a lunar eclipse, the Chinese navy fired its artillery because of this belief. During the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046–256 BC) in the Book of Songs, the sight of a Red Moon engulfed in darkness was believed to foreshadow famine or disease.

Blood moon

Certain lunar eclipses have been referred to as "blood moons" in popular articles but this is not a scientifically recognized term. This term has been given two separate, but overlapping, meanings.

The meaning usually relates to the reddish color a totally eclipsed Moon takes on to observers on Earth. As sunlight penetrates the atmosphere of Earth, the gaseous layer filters and refracts the rays in such a way that the green to violet wavelengths on the visible spectrum scatter more strongly than the red, thus giving the Moon a reddish cast. This is possible because the rays from the Sun are able to wrap around the Earth and reflect off the Moon.

Blood moon prophecies

The blood moon prophecies were a series of prophecies by Christian preachers John Hagee and Mark Biltz, related to a series of four full moons in 2014 and 2015. The prophecies stated that a tetrad (a series of four consecutive lunar eclipses—all total and coinciding on Jewish holidays—with six full moons in between, and no intervening partial lunar eclipses) which began with the April 2014 lunar eclipse was the beginning of the end times as described in the Bible in the Book of Joel 2:32, Acts 2:20, and Revelation 6:12. The tetrad ended with the lunar eclipse on September 27–28, 2015.

However, while rare, there have been 62 tetrads since the 1st century AD, though only eight of them have coincided with both the Passover and Sukkot feasts. There are eight tetrads between 1949 and 2051. In these, half of the eclipses in the (Northern Hemisphere) spring coincide with Passover and the subsequent eclipse with Sukkot.

Additionally, three of the four eclipses in the tetrad were not even visible in the biblical homeland of Israel, casting further doubt on Hagee and Biltz's interpretation.

View from the moon

A lunar eclipse is on the Moon a solar eclipse. The occurrence makes Earth's atmosphere appear as a red ring around the dark Earth. During full moon, the phase when lunar eclipses take place, the dark side of the Earth is illuminated by the Moon and its moon light.