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On July 27, some people get a rare heavenly treat: the longest total lunar eclipse of the century. As the Earth snuggles in perfect alignment between the moon and the sun, its shadow will completely cover the moon. Rather than appearing as a black spot in the heavens, however, our only natural satellite will emit a blood-red hue.
Yes, it's the blood moon. And while heavenly observers will look down upon the heavens with admiration (if they are in the right place), long ago, people took a change of moon color in a sign of misfortune – a good reason to panic.
Folklore suggests that Columbus knew that a lunar eclipse would occur on February 29, 1504, and used this to his advantage.
Columbus and his men had been trapped on an island, now known as Jamaica, for more than six months. Over time, the initial generosity that the Aboriginal people, the Arawaks, had shown faded. As the famine announced, Columbus turned to an almanac published by a German astronomer and mathematician, Johannes Müller von Königsberg, also known as Regiomontanus, to discover that a total lunar eclipse was imminent, according to Space.com
. Columbus told the Arawak that his god was angry because they refused to eat from the invaders. The god of Columbus, says the European leader of the Arawaks, would make the moon disappear or "ignite with anger" in three days. [10 Coolest Moon Discoveries]
When the blood moon actually increased this sinister Sunday night, she would have terrified the Arawaks. They agreed to provide Columbus and his men with everything they needed, as long as he asked his god to bring back the regular moon.
Normally, sunlight hits the moon directly and that is why it is usually bright and white. But during an eclipse, the Earth moves directly between the sun and the moon and filters some of that light, according to NASA. When the white light hits the atmosphere of the Earth, it projects the blue light but pushes the red light directly towards the moon – and thus, a moon of blood rises.
The amount of light that reaches the moon, and therefore the shade of red or orange that the moon turns depends on other factors such as the amount of dust and light. water in the Earth's atmosphere that day. It can even depend on temperature and humidity, according to NASA.
"There have been a few times in history, some of them fictitious, some supposedly real, where people took advantage of lunar eclipse predictions to control" Duane Hamacher, a Cultural astronomer of Monash University in Australia, told Live Science. And there are many, many more stories of indigenous people terrified by eclipses in the sky, he added.
"The sky is normally very predictable," Hamacher said. "So when something happens that is totally unusual and does not fit very well in this [predictable schedule] it can often cause a feeling of fear or even fear."
Some indigenous populations of Australia, for example, the color red with "evil", "blood" or "fire", according to Hamacher. There are "not a lot of things in the sky that are red in color," Hamacher said. But the people considered it an omen when this shadow appeared on something in the sky, like the meteors, the aurora or the moon, he said.
The Blood Moon for Aborigines, for example, "Some ancient Mesopotamian myths described a lunar eclipse as a result of an attack of seven demons, and the Inca could see a lunar eclipse as a Jaguar attacking the moon … To save the moon and the people of Earth who could also become victims, the Inca would shake spears at the moon, make a lot of noise and beat their dogs to make them scream, according to National Geographic
different types of meaning for the world around them, "said Mr. Hamacher. "Now that virtually everywhere in the world people are experiencing the scientific explanation of how lunar eclipses occur … we know that there is no need for fear."
Indeed, other acquaintances have turned this fear into fascination. And instead of shouting, beating animals and banging pots together, we will now see our curious eyes with a moon "inflamed with anger", knowing that the dark red color is a trick of the atmosphere of our world
its peak at 4:21 pm EDT on July 27, and the total will last a total of 1 hour and 43 minutes. The eclipse will not be visible in the United States, but it will be visible, at least partially, in most parts of the Eastern Hemisphere. The total eclipse can be seen from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, according to Space.com
Originally published on Live Science .
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