Red Moon Rises

Folks, it is family time on Tuesday outside so get your outdoor chairs ready. Unless it rains, is cloudy, or the sky is covered by invaders from outer space.

The moon in New Zealand is turning blood red forecasters say on Tuesday evening.
The sight is supposed to be of interest to children according to reporting by the New Zealand Herald. I expect to see plenty of photographs from expert photographers circulating after the day. Another example of how fascinating space can be.

As always completely scientifically explainable events produce a plethora of alternative beliefs, however I recommend subscribing only to the scientific versions. Visit earthsky for definitions of some of the popular beliefs of the red moon.

Of course there is nothing supernatural about this event and it is simply a result of the way things work in space when it comes to planetary orbits and how light works. Simply that the moon moves around the earth and the earth moves around the sun at different rates. At some point their orbits will bring them in an alignment where the sun shines on earth in the same plane that the moon is in. I.e if you put a dot on paper and call that the sun, draw a straight line, place another dot on that line called earth, further along a third dot called the moon, this is essentially what is happening. Earth will cast a penumbra which is a shadow that is only partially occluded. The completely occluded area is the umbra. As the suns rays pass through the earths atmosphere the lights colour will change to a shade of red and this will be cast an umbra on the luna surface that isn't totally dark and look like a blood red moon. The explanation of what happens can be found on the NASA website.

There wont be any omnipresent being or apparition that will appear, and if one does.....call the ghost busters.


Time to see in New Zealand: Tuesday when the moon is rising. New Zealand Herald reports a time of 7:08 pm.