There will be a super blood moon on May 16, when a bright red moon will appear in the sky. This kind of scene is still rare. After all, the moon we usually see is white or yellow. According to records in many ancient documents around the world, the appearance of the blood moon is considered to be an ominous omen. There is even a folk legend that when the blood moon rises, evildoers will appear! Why did the ancients believe that the appearance of the blood moon heralded an ominous omen, and why were some people afraid of seeing the blood moon?
The first lunar eclipse in 2022 will occur on May 16 in China (the date will vary depending on the time zone). A total lunar eclipse will be visible in parts of the Americas, Antarctica, Europe, Africa and the eastern Pacific as the full moon enters Earth's deep umbral shadow. Meanwhile, a penumbral solar eclipse, an event that occurs when the moon is in Earth's lighter penumbral shadow, will be visible in New Zealand, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Unfortunately, our country should not be able to see this lunar eclipse. The full moon that occurred on May 16 was also a super moon . The super moon plus the lunar eclipse made this blood moon a super blood moon.
Where to See a Lunar Eclipse
Supermoon - A supermoon occurs when the full moon coincides with the moon's closest approach to Earth in its orbit. Because it is so close to Earth, a super full moon also looks about 30% larger than a mini full moon and about 16% larger than a regular full moon. As used today, the term supermoon was coined in 1979 by astrologer Richard Noller. The moon's orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse, with one side closer to the Earth than the other. As a result, the distance between the moon and Earth changes throughout the month and year. On average, the distance is approximately 382,900 kilometers (238,000 miles). The closest point to the Earth in the lunar orbit is called perigee , and the farthest point is called apogee .
Why does the moon turn red during a lunar eclipse - The same phenomenon that makes our skies turn blue and our sunsets turn red causes the moon to turn red during a lunar eclipse. This is now called Rayleigh scattering . Light travels in the form of waves, and different colors of light have different physical properties. Compared with the longer wavelength red light, blue light has a shorter wavelength and is more easily scattered by particles in the earth's atmosphere. Red light, on the other hand, travels more directly through the atmosphere. When the sun is overhead, we see blue light throughout the sky. But when the sun sets, sunlight has to pass through more of the atmosphere and travel farther to reach our eyes. The blue light emitted by the sun is scattered, and longer wavelength red, orange, and yellow light pass through, causing the sky to appear red or golden at sunset. During a lunar eclipse, the moon turns red because the only sunlight reaching the moon passes through the Earth's atmosphere (so only red light remains). The more dust or clouds there are in Earth's atmosphere during a lunar eclipse, the redder the moon will appear.
Does the appearance of the blood moon portend an ominous sign?
According to the ancient Chinese book "Jing Shi Yao Zhan", if the moon changes color, there will be disaster. Green represents hunger and sorrow, red represents struggle and war, yellow represents virtue and happiness, white represents drought and mourning, black represents water, and people are sick and dying. The red in generally refers to the color red. In other words, "Jing's Demon Divination" believes that the moon turning red means war and conflict. There is also a folk saying that when the blood moon rises, evildoers will appear!
The earliest record of the blood moon in history is in the "Five Elements Chronicles" of " Nan Qi Shu ", "In April of Guihai, the first year of Yongtai, Emperor Ming Dynasty, there was a lunar eclipse, and the color was as red as blood." The second blood moon appeared in Southern Qi shortly after Donghun Hou ascended the throne, that is, on September 6, 499 AD. The time interval between the two occurrences was one year and four months. Three days after the first blood moon appeared, the Grand Sima Wang Jing rebelled; then on the night of the second blood moon, Xiao Yaoguang, the king of Shi'an who rebelled, was defeated and executed. These records seem to confirm the records in "Jing's Demon Divination". If the moon changes color, there will be disaster. Green is worried about hunger, red is fighting for war! But think about it, wars or conflicts were actually quite common during that period, but lunar eclipses or blood moons were not.So these few incidents just happened to happen during the lunar eclipse.
The legend about the moon turning red is also recorded in the Western Bible. According to the record in the Book of Joel: The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon will be turned into blood, before the great and awesome day of God comes. The blood moon phenomenon was also mentioned when the end of the world was predicted in the Book of Revelation: When the sixth seal was opened, I saw another great earthquake, the sun became black like woolen cloth, and the moon became red like blood! Therefore, whether in ancient my country or in ancient Western countries, the appearance of the blood moon was often considered bad.
As Duncan Steel explains in his book Eclipse: The Asternational Phenome at Changed The Course, in June 1503, an epidemic devastated Destroyed Columbus two of his four ships, forcing him to land on the Caribbean island Jamaica . The island's indigenous Arawak people provided food for the uninvited guests for six months. Eventually, however, they became irritated and no longer wanted to give Columbus their food. This was when Columbus's Spanish sailors began killing the Arawaks and stealing their food.
Columbus realized something had to be done. Three days before the lunar eclipse on the night of February 29, he told the Arawak chief that his god was angry because the locals were no longer generous with food. Evidence of his god's displeasure will be revealed three days later, when the moon will disappear from the sky and turn red with wrath. He based this on his knowledge of the upcoming lunar eclipse, which was recorded in the astronomical tables that sailors relied on.
Later, three days later, the moon really disappeared and turned red. The terrified Arawaks ran to the Spanish ships and begged Columbus to intercede with his god on their behalf. Finally, Columbus said he had negotiated peace as long as the Arawaks continued to provide food for the Spanish. Nearly a year and a half after they landed on the island, the Spaniards returned home. Soon after, the struggle for the Caribbean and the North and South American continents began in earnest.
Why some people are afraid of seeing the blood moon
The ancient legends and stories above tell us that the ancients believed that lunar eclipses or blood moons were bad symbols. At the same time, some people are afraid of the blood moon because they believe it portends bad things. In fact, it is because this phenomenon is relatively rare, and the scientific and technological level of the ancients was also limited, and they could not correctly understand or explain this rare phenomenon. Coupled with the emergence of some coincidental events, many legends have arisen. However, now with the development of science and technology, we all know how a lunar eclipse is formed. That’s it for today. I’m Fire Sect Lord. See you next time.
