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Next Sunday’s Total Lunar Eclipse is the fourth and final eclipse in a series of four total lunar eclipses called the lunar tetrad. Each of the eclipses in the tetrad occurred about 6 months apart and had 5 full Moons between them.
This rare eclipse of a super moon is also called a blood moon because of its reddish color due to Rayleigh scattering of light. And, if wildfires continue burning in the West, the smoke may contribute to an even deeper red color.
Needless to say, conspiracy theorists are having wet dreams about this because it’s the last of the four blood moons that fall on Biblical festival dates during 2014 and 2015. Since the Jewish calendar is (28 day) lunar based, OF COURSE these lunar eclipses coincide with lunar-based calendar events. Such religious, numerological claptrap persuaded uneducated and superstitious shepherds to support priests in a relative lavish life-style thousands of years ago and still afflicts gullible conspiracy theorists today.
Will the world end? Yes, in about 4 billion years when the sun goes Nova and fries our solar system. Until then, enjoy the show. In any case, let’s hope we have clear skies for a great view.
Viewing Time
The Moon will enter Earth’s much darker umbral shadow at 9:07 p.m. on September 27 (Eastern Time Zone), at 8:07 p.m. (Central Time), 7:07 p.m. (Mountain Time) and 6:07 p.m. (Pacific Time – before moonrise).
According to the Farmer’s Almanac Sixty-four minutes later the Moon is entirely within the shadow, and sails on within it for 72 minutes until it begins to find its way out at the lower left (southeastern) edge. The Moon will be completely free of the umbra by 9:27 p.m. Pacific Time or 12:27 a.m. (September 28) Eastern Time.
“The only problematic area will be in the western quarter of the United States and west-central Canada, where the first partial stage of the eclipse will already be under way when the Moon rises and the Sun sets on Sunday evening. But if you have an open view low to the east, even this situation will only add to the drama, for as twilight fades, these far-westerners will see the shadow-bitten Moon coming into stark view low above the landscape. And by late twilight, observers will have a fine view of the totally eclipsed lunar disk glowing red and dim low in the eastern sky.”
Enjoy the view!
Gerold
September 20, 2015
Refrences:
Gerold's Blog 