The Earth will experience one of the most spectacular celestial events on September 27 as a supermoon or "blood moon" will take place with the fourth lunar eclipse in two years known as "tetrad" to coincide with important Jewish holy days.
In the evening of September 27, a full moon will be visible when its orbit is closest to the Earth. NASA said the lunar eclipse will take place at the exact same time for the first time in 30 years to allow the public to have a of the largest moon for more than an hour during the lunar eclipse, reported The Market Business.
Noah Petro, NASA's deputy project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, explained that the point when the moon's orbit is closes to the Earth is called perigee when a full moon can be viewed at least 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than normal. This phenomenon is called supermoon.
On Sept. 27, the Earth sill pass directly between the moon and the sun thus the lunar eclipse will take place on the same day as the supermoon. Petro insists this is just a matter of timing and added, "all these things just falls into place."
The last supermoon lunar eclipse took place in 1982 and the next event is expected to occur in 2033. Those living in North and South America will be able to view the lunar eclipse on Sept. 27, while those living in Europe and Africa will see the occurrence in the early morning of Sept. 28, NASA said.
However, doomsayers and so-called seers are having a field day as science and religion collide with some predicting that the supermoon lunar eclipse is actually a blood moon apocalypse that will bring about global conflict, financial upheaval and natural disasters, reported News.com.
And the fact that the blood moon or tetrad falls on important Jewish holy day (September 8 marks the first day of the Jewish holy day of the Feast of Tabernacle) does not help. The last three blood moons over the past year are: April 14, 2014 (Passover); October 8, 2014 (Feast of the Tabernacle); and April 4, 2015 (Passover).
While skywatchers say the series follows natural cycles, some, such as popular author and Christian pastor John Hagee, say the tetrad is a signal of the end times sent by God.
"The coming four blood moons points to a world-shaking event that will happen between April 2014 and October 2015," he said.
The reference to the impact is found in Joel 2:30-31, which reads, "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord."
A second reference to a blood moon is found in Revelation 6:12: "I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood."
Pastor Hagee, who famously wrote Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change highlighting his theory, states, "The heavens are God's billboard. He's been sending signals to Earth, and we haven't been picking them up. Two blood moons, in 2014 and 2015, point to dramatic events in the Middle East, and, as a result, changes in the whole world."
He added: "According to the Biblical prophecy, world history is about to change dramatically. To get four blood moons you need something absolutely extraordinary in astrological terms."
Mark Blitz of El Shaddai Ministries in Washington also believes the heavenly occurence is a sign of the apocalypse, as he claims blood moon tetrads have in the past coincided with significant historical events for Israel, including Passover and the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Blitz, who authored Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs, said, "The last time there was a tetrad was back in the 1900s, and to my amazement, they also fell on the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles. When I noticed the years these phenomena occurred, my mind began reeling."
