This year on the night of September 27th and the early morning of September 28th, sky watchers and star gazers will get a rare treat, a Super Moon, a Blood Moon, (a total lunar eclipse) happening at the same time, and visible in the United States. The last time there was a SuperMoon/Lunar Eclipse event like this was in 1982, 33 years ago.
No doubt you have heard special things about several Super Moons over the last couple of years. But do you really know what a Super Moon is? The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not perfectly round; it is elliptical. Every now and then, the Moon is in it’s Full phase at the point of perigee. That is, when the Moon is as close to the Earth as it ever gets. This makes the Full Moon appear about 14% bigger to those of us standing on the Earth, and the modern sky lore of the day labels it a Super Moon. But this Super Moon will also be a Blood Moon.
A Blood Moon is the common term for a total Lunar Eclipse. When the Earth passes between the Sun and the Full Moon, the shadow of the planet is cast onto the face of the moon making it appear red. The eclipse will begin on the 27th, at 8:11PM and will last until 1:22AM on the 28th. The peak will be at 10:47PM, though the Blood Moon will be in total eclipse for about an hour and 12 minutes. The total duration of the eclipse will be 5 hours and 11 minutes.
So, what makes this month’s Super Moon/Lunar Eclipse so special? Big deal, you say? Super Moons and Lunar & Solar eclipses happen fairly often. Yes they do, but this particular Lunar Eclipse is the last in a tetrad. So, what is a lunar tetrad? That is a cycle of 4 total Lunar eclipses in a row without any partial eclipses in between, and each eclipse happening 6 months apart. A rare thing in itself, however, this tetrad has each eclipse falling on a Jewish Holiday.* There have only been a total of 8 such tetrads in the last 2100 years. This particular Super/Blood Moon and Total Lunar eclipse, ending the tetrad, has been the subject of much study. John Hagee wrote a book of prophecy about this tetrad and has held many workshops on the subject.
So, what does this mean? Is something significant about to happen? Is this just happenstance in the deepness of space? People must decide for themselves.
The next time the heavenly bodies align like this again will be in 2033. That’s a long time to wait. On September 27th, the Moon will rise at 6:55PM, and the eclipse will begin about an hour and 15 minutes later. The temperatures are forecast to be low 70s to high 60s, so you will be comfortable while you watch.
*(Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles)
April 2014 and April 2015, the total Lunar Eclipses (Blood Moons) fell on Passover, and in October 2014 the Blood Moon fell on the Feast of Tabernacles, just as it will this month on September 27&28, (The Feast of Tabernacles begins on Sept. 28th this year)
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