It's not particularly rare. We get lunar eclipses often several times a year. They are more common, for most people, than solar eclipses, because the whole of the Earth on the night side of the planet gets to see the eclipse - while for a solar eclipse you have to be on the eclipse track so very few see those.
The sun goes red through the combined sunsets and rises of all the parts of the world that have the sun rising or setting at the moment of eclipse.
This one is the fourth of a series of lunar eclipses. But even that is not remarkable either.
It is totally a matter of media hype. For some reason this year the media has seized on a rather interesting and enjoyable astronomical spectacle and made it into a big thing. The very word "blood moon" I think is a recent invention to describe such events.
The colour varies depending on atmospheric conditions at the moment of eclipse, sometimes redder, sometimes more of a browny colour. So the colour can't be predicted accurately unless you have a good idea what the weather is around the world on that date. So right now, nobody can be sure that it will be particularly red either as these eclipses go.
The sun goes red through the combined sunsets and rises of all the parts of the world that have the sun rising or setting at the moment of eclipse.
This one is the fourth of a series of lunar eclipses. But even that is not remarkable either.
It is totally a matter of media hype. For some reason this year the media has seized on a rather interesting and enjoyable astronomical spectacle and made it into a big thing. The very word "blood moon" I think is a recent invention to describe such events.
The colour varies depending on atmospheric conditions at the moment of eclipse, sometimes redder, sometimes more of a browny colour. So the colour can't be predicted accurately unless you have a good idea what the weather is around the world on that date. So right now, nobody can be sure that it will be particularly red either as these eclipses go.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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