Blood moon the sequel had millions gazing at the skies
- NEW: The full eclipse has ended
- This blood moon is the size of a super moon, more than 5% larger than the last blood moon
- It is the second in a series of four — called a tetrad
- Tetrads can be rare; for a 300-year stretch, there were none
(CNN) — Sequels are usually a disappointment. But not this time, not with this heavenly body.
People throughout the United States had a front-row seat for the show: a lunar eclipse that made the moon look a burnt reddish-orange.
The”blood moon,” as it’s called, was the second of the year.
The full eclipse started at about 6:25 a.m. ET and lasted until about 7:24 a.m. ET.
See lunar eclipse turn into blood moon
‘Blood moon’ : Why is it red?
Lunar eclipse in a minute
Because it happened right after the perigee — when the moon is closest in its orbit to Earth — this blood moon was nearly the size of a super moon, appearing more than 5% larger than the previous blood moon in April.
While we’re talking sequels, this series is only halfway through. Two more blood moons are coming. Hollywood might dub it a quadrilogy, but scientists call it a tetrad.
The series is occurring in roughly six-month intervals. April 4, 2015, is the next one, and last will appear on September 28, 2015.
A rare treat
With that frequency, you could be misled into thinking blood moons are fairly common.
In the 21st century, there will be many tetrads, but look back a few centuries, and you’ll find the opposite phenomenon, NASA says.
Before the dawn of the 20th century, there was a 300-year period when there were none, says NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak.
That would mean that Sir Isaac Newton, Mozart, Queen Anne, George Washington, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln and their contemporaries never had a chance to see such a sequence.
There are about two lunar eclipses per year, NASA says.
Some are so subtle they’re barely visible and pretty much go unnoticed.
Other eclipses cast a partial shadow on the moon but don’t give it that blood moon color that only total eclipses do. They come around, on average, less than once a year.
Here’s your blood moon playlist
A global sunset shining on the moon
The brilliant hues of a blood moon come from the edges of the sun peeking around the periphery of the Earth, catching the atmosphere. It’s essentially a global sunset shining on the moon, which has to be in just the right position to catch those rays.
Lunar eclipses — whatever the variety — occur in random order, NASA says. Getting four total eclipses in a row, especially blood moons, is like drawing a rare lunar poker hand of four of a kind.
“The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the U.S.A.,” said Espenak.
The people of Europe, Africa and the Middle East were not be able to see this blood moon.
As the Epoch Times further outlines;
UPDATE: Blood Moon and Lunar Eclipse Pictures From October 8
“The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA,” said longtime NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak in a post on the agency’s website.
The times are slated as follows–the partial eclipse begins at 5:18 a.m. EDT, with the full eclipse beginning at about an hour later at 6:27 a.m.
The maximum eclipse is set for 6:55 a.m., with the full eclipse ending at 7:22 a.m. Sunrise will take place at 7:57 a.m.
Why Does Moon Turn Red?
NASA also explained why the moon turned red.
“A quick trip to the Moon provides the answer: Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth, nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is underway.
“You might expect Earth seen in this way to be utterly dark, but it’s not. The rim of the planet is on fire! As you scan your eye around Earth’s circumference, you’re seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once. This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth’s shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb.”
The name “Blood Moon” isn’t usually identified as an official astronomical term; it comes from hunters who tracked and killed their prey by autumn moonlight, stockpiling food for the winter ahead.
“You can picture them: silent figures padding through the forest, the moon overhead, pale as a corpse, its cold light betraying the creatures of the wood,” according to NASA.
Some people, such as John Hagee, pastor of a church and author of “Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change,” say that the tetrad holds religious significance, particularly because the first two blood moons align with the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacle. Hagee told Fox News that the tetrad signals the end of the modern era.
“Technically, the end times began with the outpouring of Pentecost 2,000 years ago,” said Hagee. “We have been in the end times a long time.”
Hagee is credited for popularizing using the term Blood Moon to refer to the full moons in the lunar tetrad.
As for the “Hunter’s Moon” designation, it comes from some Native American tribes, “as it was the time to go hunting in preparation for winter,” according to the Farmer’s Almanac.
“This is the month when the leaves are falling and the game is fattened. Now is the time for hunting and laying in a store of provisions for the long winter ahead,” it explained. “This full Moon is also called the Travel Moon and the Dying Grass Moon.”
Here are World Events that have occurred since these Blood Moons have appeared
February
- February–ongoing – The 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak begins, infecting 8,034 people and killing at least 3,866 people, the most severe both in terms of numbers of infections and casualties.[4][5]
- February 7–23 – The XXII Olympic Winter Games are held in Sochi, Russia.[6][7]
- February 13 – Belgium becomes the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia for terminally ill patients of any age.[8]
- February 22 – The Ukrainian parliament votes to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, replacing him withOleksandr Turchynov, after days of civil unrest left around 100 people dead in Kiev.[9]
- February 26–ongoing – The pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine leads to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and aninsurgency in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
March
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- March 5 – Nicolás Maduro, the President of Venezuela, severs diplomatic and political ties with Panama, accusing Panama of being involved in a conspiracy against the Venezuelan government.[10]
- March 8 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 airliner en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, disappears over the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people on board. The aircraft is presumed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean.[11]
- March 16 – A referendum on the status of Crimea is held.[12]
- March 21 – Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the annexation process.[13]
- March 24 – During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canadatemporarily suspend Russia from the G8.[14]
- March 27 – The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 68/262, recognizing Crimea within Ukraine’s international borders and rejecting the validity of the 2014 Crimean referendum.[15]
- March 31 – The United Nations International Court of Justice rules that Japan‘s Antarctic whaling program is not scientific but commercial and forbids grants of further permits.[16][17]
April
- April 10 – In response to the 2014 Crimean crisis, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passes a resolution to temporarily strip Russia of its voting rights; its rights to be represented in the Bureau of the Assembly, the PACE Presidential Committee, and the PACE Standing Committee; and its right to participate in election-observation missions.[18]
- April 14 – An estimated 276 girls and women are abducted and held hostage from a school in Nigeria.[19]
- April 16 – Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks after an unmanageable cargo shift, killing more than 290 people, mostly high school students.[20]
- April 27 – The Catholic Church canonizes Popes John XXIII and John Paul II on Divine Mercy Sunday.[21]
- April 28 – United States President Barack Obama‘s new economic sanctions against Russia go into effect, targeting companies and individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.[22]
May
- May 5
- The World Health Organization identifies the spread of poliomyelitis in at least 10 countries as a major worldwide health emergency.[23]
- Boko Haram militants kill approximately 300 people in a night attack on Gamboru Ngala.[24]
- May 20 – Terrorists in Nigeria detonate bombs at Jos, killing 118 people.
- May 22 – The Royal Thai Army overthrows the caretaker government of Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan after a failure to resolve the political unrest in Thailand.[25][26]
June
- June 5–ongoing – A Sunni militant group called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (also known as the ISIS or ISIL) begins anoffensive through northern Iraq, aiming to capture the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad and overthrow the Shiite government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.[27]
- June 19 – King Juan Carlos I of Spain abdicates in favor of his son, who ascends the Spanish throne as King Felipe VI.
July
- July 8– August 26– Amid growing tensions between Israel and Hamas following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June and the revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in July, Israel launches Operation Protective Edge on thePalestinian Gaza Strip starting with numerous missile strikes, followed by a ground invasion a week later. In 7 weeks of fighting, 2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis are killed.
- July 17
- After a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, Israel confirms the beginning of a ground offensive in Gaza.[28]
- Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (Boeing 777) crashes in Ukraine, after being shot down by a missile. 298 people die, including 15 crew members.[29]
- July 21 – The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2166 in response to the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.[30]
- July 24 – Air Algérie Flight 5017 crashes in Mali, killing all 116 people on board.[31]
August
- August 7 – Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan are found guilty of crimes against humanity and are sentenced to life imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.[32]
- August 8 – The United States military begins an air campaign in northern Iraq to stem the influx of ISIS militants.
September
- September 18–19 – The Scottish independence referendum is held. Scotland votes “No” to Independence with a 55% to 45% majority. Only four (of 32) councils vote for independence.[33]
- September 22 – The United States and several Arab partners begin their airstrike campaign in Syria.[34][35]
October
Ebola spreads from West Africa to USA, Spain, one man dead, with others suspected of catching the disease
- December 31 – The United States, United Kingdom and the remaining Australians are scheduled to officially withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, marking the end of their 13-year involvement in the War in Afghanistan.
Sources
Epoch Times
Coercion Code - "Dark Times are upon us" 