The next blood moon is coming up in 2014, and it will be visible in most of the United States.
The blood moon will happen on Wednesday, October 8 along with a lunar eclipse.
The blood moon is a moon that can turn red or orange.
The blood moon is the second in “an extraordinary series of lunar eclipses,” according to the United States space agency, NASA.
The first took place in April of this year. The third is slated for April 4, 2015; and the fourth September 28, 2015.
This series is referred to by experts as a lunar eclipse tetrad.
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.”
