The Blood Moon Tetrad

This coming Saturday(4-4-15) is number 3 out of 4 of the Blood Moon Tetrad (Tetrad meaning four) in the 2014-1015 season.  According to NASA, the shadow of Earth will completely cover the Moon which causes it to turn red. In Colorado where I live we will be able to see the “totality” beginning at 5:58 AM Mountain Time.  If you live on the East Coast you won’t be as lucky and will only see a partial ‘occulting’ or hiding of the Moon.

The 4 Blood Moons of 2014-2015

Early-rising observers all over the United States should be able to see at least the partial phases of the April 4 lunar eclipse just before the sun rises, if weather permits. People on the West Coast will have the chance to see the moon turn an eerie shade of red during totality, which should begin at about 7:58 a.m. EDT (1158 GMT, 4:58 a.m. PDT).  NASA has dubbed this coming event the shortest lunar eclipse of the century  Space.com

This lunar eclipse will be the third of four eclipses in a lunar eclipse tetrad. The first occurred in April 2014, with the second rising in September 2014. The final lunar eclipse in the tetrad will happen on Sept. 28. 

Dates of Biblical Blood Moons in 2014 and 2015. – the ongoing tetrad

2014:
Total lunar eclipse: April 15
Total lunar eclipse: October 8

2015:
Total lunar eclipse: April 4
Total lunar eclipse: September 28

There are a total of 8 tetrads in the 21st century (2001 to 2100). But proponents of this Biblical prophecy regard the ongoing tetrad as especially significant because it coincides with two important Jewish holidays: Passover and Tabernacles.

The April 2014 and April 2015 total lunar eclipses align with the feast of Passover. The October 2014 and September 2015 total lunar eclipses align with the feast of Tabernacles.

The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar. In any year, it’s inevitable that a full moon should fall on or near the feasts of Passover (15 Nissan) and Tabernacles (15 Tishri). Nissan and Tishri are the first and seventh months of the Jewish calendar, respectively.

It is somewhat ironic that three of these four lunar eclipses are not visible – even in part – from Israel. The only eclipse that can be seen at all from Israel is the tail end of the September 28, 2015 eclipse, which may be observable for a short while before sunrise.   -EarthSky.org

Solar and Lunar Eclipses come in pairs – a Lunar Eclipse always takes place two weeks before or after a Solar Eclipse. The April 4, 2015 Total Lunar Eclipse was preceded by a Total Solar Eclipse that was visible in Europe.

A lunar eclipse can only happen at full moon. Only then is it possible for the moon to be directly opposite the sun in our sky, and to pass into the Earth’s dark umbral shadow. Most of the time, however, the full moon eludes the Earth’s shadow by swinging to the north of it, or south of it.

The numbers 18 and 19 are echoed in the movements of the cosmos

Like Solar Eclipses, Lunar Eclipses tend to occur in 18 year long cycles called Saros Cycles. Lunar Eclipses separated by a Saros Cycle share similar features, including time of the year and the distance of the Moon from the Earth. Eclipses that are separated by a Saros Cycle are included in a Saros Series.

The April 4, 2015 Lunar Eclipse belong to Saros Series 132. The series that includes 71 lunar eclipses began with a penumbral eclipse on May 12, 1492 and will end with another penumbral eclipse on June 26, 2754.

A ‘totality’ is when the shadow of Earth completely covers the Moon.   This Saturday’s Total Lunar Eclipse is noteworthy for one more reason – totality will last only for 4 minutes and 43 seconds. This makes it the shortest Total Lunar Eclipse of the 21st century.

The Sun and Moon are the same size in the sky. This has always been an ancient quandary that philosophers contemplated

So if you can wake up early and be outside by at least 5:45 AM Mountain Time to watch the full occultation of the Moon!

Type in your city to see how much you’ll be able to see

This is a rare one! Enjoy!

“The truth is, the so-called “axial rotation” of the moon is a phenomenon deceptive alike to the eye and mind and devoid of physical meaning. The moon does rotate, not on its own, but about an axis passing thru the center of the earth, the true and only one.”
-Nikola Tesla

“Professor Hogben… describes many ancient applications which relied on treating the vault of heaven as a clock-face rotating around a central and fixed earth. …The moon, as the fastest moving body in the heavens, provides, as it were, the ‘second hand’ in such a cosmic time-piece. We must not therefore be surprised that ‘mensuration’, our modern word for the accurate measurement of time, length, area, or volume, relates directly to the moon, for its root, ‘mensis’, means month.
– Robin Heath ‘The Lost Science of Measuring the Earth’ pg 27