A Tetrad of Lunar Eclipses : Four Blood Moons


For people in the United States, an extraordinary series of lunar eclipses is about to begin. The action starts on April 15th when the full Moon passes through the amber shadow of Earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America. So begins a lunar eclipse tetrad—a series of 4 consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six month intervals.  The total eclipse of April 15, 2014, will be followed by another on Oct. 8, 2014, and another on April 4, 2015, and another on Sept. 28 2015.
"The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA," says NASA. This will be the first total lunar eclipse since Dec. 10, 2011.

The last time that happened — a series of four lunar eclipses with no partials — was 2003-2004. It won't happen again until 2032-2033, according to NASA.

Mars will also be one of several guest stars, so to speak, in the sky show. The Red Planet will be within 57 million miles of Earth, its closest approach since January 2007.

Mars will appear to the right of the moon at eclipse time. A bright blue star, Spica, will be close to the totally eclipsed moon.

Saturn will be to the left of the eclipsed moon and brighter than Spica. Jupiter also will be visible about 20 minutes after sunset. Face south and look nearly overhead and Jupiter will appear as a bright star.