The moon tonight will appear larger than usual and will seem to be painted red.
The event is a rare simultaneous occurrence of two astrological phenomena, and its arrival at the end of the Jewish High Holy Days of a Shemitah year on the Hebrew calendar has led some people of faith to believe that the hand of God is at work.
The moon appears red — called a “Blood Moon” — during a total lunar eclipse, when the Earth is directly between the moon and the sun. Since no direct sunlight is able to reach the moon, light refracted through Earth’s atmosphere bends to strike the moon and is reflected as the longer red light wave.
The moon will also seem larger — known as a “Super Moon” — because it is at the perigee of its orbit, the nearest to Earth it can travel. Charnick said the moon tonight will appear 14 percent larger than usual. -- theet.com
