The reddish coloration the moon takes on during a total lunar eclipse, produced as sunlight bends through Earth's atmosphere and is filtered so that only longer, red wavelengths reach the eclipsed lunar surface, the same effect responsible for a red sunset. The exact shade of red varies from eclipse to eclipse depending on the amount of dust, cloud and volcanic aerosol present in Earth's atmosphere at the time.
Facts
PeriodicityPopular blood moon prophecy claims are tied to a tetrad, four total lunar eclipses occurring within two consecutive years with no intervening partial eclipses 2 ScaleLike the total lunar eclipse that produces it, a blood moon is visible at once from the entire night side of Earth rather than a narrow path 3 First DescribedThe image of the moon turning to blood as an end times sign goes back to the Hebrew prophet Joel, later quoted in the New Testament book of Acts: the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord 4 Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceBlood moon is a popular, non-technical name for the reddish color the Moon takes on during a total lunar eclipse 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia - Blood Moon (disambiguation)
Lead sectionQuote, Lead section
a popular term to describe the reddish color of the Moon during the total lunar eclipse
2. Wikipedia - Tetrad (astronomy)
Definition sectionQuote, Definition section
a set of four total lunar eclipses within two consecutive years
3. Wikipedia - Lunar Eclipse
Visibility section, applied to totality's blood moon colorationQuote, Visibility section, applied to totality's blood moon coloration
lunar eclipses can be observed from anywhere on the night side of Earth and often last for an hour or longer
4. Bible Gateway - Joel 2:31 (NIV)
Joel 2:31Quote, Joel 2:31
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
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