A “blood moon” occurs when Earth’s moon is in a total lunar eclipse. Although it has no particular astronomical significance, the view in the sky is striking as the usually whitish moon turns red or reddish brown. The last blood moon on January 20-21, 2019 coincided with a super moon and the wolf full moon, earning it the title of “Blood Wolf Super Moon”.
The next blood moon will occur during the Total Lunar Eclipse on May 26, 2021, which will be visible from parts of North America, Australia, the Pacific and Asia. As the full moon passes through Earth’s shadow, viewers will be treated to a celestial view that will not reappear until May 2022.
When is the next blood moon?
The next total lunar eclipse will take place on May 26, 2021.
The previous total lunar eclipse from January 20-21, 2019 was the last blood moon until 2021. Several partial and twilight lunar eclipses occurred between the two, and NASA has a list of all lunar eclipses up to 2100 .
Here is a list of all the “blood moons” coming up in the next 10 years and the places where they will be visible:
- May 26, 2021: North America, South America, Asia, Australia and the Pacific
- May 16, 2022: North America, South America, Europe and Africa
- November 8, 2022: North America, South America, Asia, Australia and the Pacific
- 14 mars 2025: North America, South America, Europe, Africa and the Pacific
- September 7, 2025: Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia
- 3 mars 2026: North America, South America, Asia, Australia and the Pacific
- December 31, 2028: Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific
- June 26, 2029: North America, South America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East
- 20 December 2030: North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia
Why the moon turns red
The moon revolves around the Earth, while the Earth revolves around the sun. The moon takes about 27 days to orbit the Earth and goes through regular phases in a 29.5-day cycle. The difference between these two cycles is related to the relative positions of the sun, earth and moon, which change during the moon’s orbit.
Lunar eclipses can only occur during a full moon, when the sun completely illuminates the surface. Usually, a full moon does not have an eclipse because the moon orbits in a slightly different plane than the Earth and the sun. However, the planes sometimes coincide. The Earth passes between the moon and the sun and cuts off sunlight, causing an eclipse.
If the Earth partially blocks the sun and the darkest part of its shadow falls on the surface of the moon, this is called a partial eclipse. You will see a black shadow take a bite out of the moon. Sometimes the moon passes through the lightest part of the Earth’s shadow, causing a penumbra eclipse. Only experienced sky-watchers will be able to tell the difference, as the moon only darkens very slightly.
During a complete eclipse, however, something spectacular happens. The moon is completely in the shadow of the Earth. At the same time, some light from Earth’s sunrises and sunsets (on the planet’s disk) falls on the surface of the moon. Because the light waves are stretched, they appear red. When this red light hits the surface of the moon, it also appears red.
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The moon’s degree of red can depend on the amount of pollution, cloud cover, or debris in the atmosphere. For example, if an eclipse occurs shortly after a volcanic eruption, particles in the atmosphere will make the moon darker than usual.
Although there are planets and moons all over the solar system, only Earth is fortunate enough to experience lunar eclipses because its shadow is just large enough to completely cover the moon. The moon is slowly moving away from our planet (at about 1.6 inches or 4 centimeters per year) and this situation will not persist forever. There are about two to four lunar eclipses each year, according to NASA, and each is visible on about half of the Earth.
Save Columbus
Some ancient cultures did not understand why the moon turned red, causing fear. At least one explorer – Christopher Columbus – used this to his advantage in 1504.
According to a 45secondes.fr Skywatching columnist, Joe Rao, Columbus and his crew were stranded on an island now known as Jamaica. At first the Arawaks who lived there were welcoming, but over time the Columbus crew got agitated and murdered or robbed some of the natives. Naturally, the natives were not eager to help the crew search for food, and Columbus realized that famine was approaching.
Columbus had an almanac with him to predict when the next lunar eclipse would take place. Armed with this information, he told the Arawaks that the Christian god was unhappy that Columbus and his crew had not received any food. God would make the moon red as a symbol of his wrath, Columbus said. As the event unfolded, frightened people “with loud howls and lamentations rushed from all sides to the ships laden with provisions, begging the admiral to intercede with his god on their behalf,” according to an account by son of Columbus, Ferdinand.
This article was updated by 45secondes.fr contributor Vicky Stein on May 17, 2021.
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