If you stay up late tonight (April 14, April 15) and watch the first of a series of four “blood” moons — a sequence of lunar eclipses called atetrad that will occur over the next two years, and which some religious types believe signifies the beginning of the apocalypse. Mars is also incredibly close to Earth at the moment, making it one of the brightest objects in the sky. This alignment between the Sun, Earth, Mars, and the Moon has only occurred a handful of times in the last two thousand years, each time coinciding with a “hugely significant” religious event. For non-religious types, though, it’s just a great opportunity to see an amazing astronomical event that probably won’t happen again in your lifetime.
At around 2am tonight (Eastern Daylight Time), the Moon will enter the Earth’s penumbra (the edge of the shadow cast by the Earth), creating a partial eclipse. From 3am through to 4:30am, the Moon will be fully within the Earth’s umbra, creating a total lunar eclipse. During this period, the Moon will appear sunset (or blood) red. It’s really quite beautiful.
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