A “blood moon” happens when Earth’s moon is in a total lunar eclipse. While it has no special astronomical significance, the view in the sky is striking as the usually whiteish moon becomes red or ruddy-brown.
The next blood moon will happen during the total lunar eclipse of May 26, 2021, which will be visible from parts of North America, Australia, the Pacific and Asia. As the full moon phase passes through Earth’s shadow, viewers will be treated to a celestial sight that won’t appear again until May of 2022.
How red the moon appears can depend on how much pollution, cloud cover or debris there is in the atmosphere. For example, if an eclipse takes place shortly after a volcanic eruption, the particles in the atmosphere will make the moon look darker than usual.
While there are planets and moons all over the solar system, only Earth is lucky enough to experience lunar eclipses because its shadow is just large enough to cover the moon completely. The moon is slowly drifting away from our planet (at roughly 1.6 inches or 4 centimeters a year) and this situation won’t persist forever. There are roughly two to four lunar eclipses every year, according to NASA, and each one is visible over about half the Earth.
Picture Credit : Google
