Sunday, September 27, 2015

333: FOURTH and FINAL BLOOD MOON in the TETRAD

Tonight was the fourth lunar eclipse in the tetrad of blood moons. I observed all four. This final blood moon was a supermoon which occurs when the full moon is at its closest to the Earth. My family went up into the mountains this evening to see the moon rise in the east and then watch the total lunar eclipse. While many predicted dooms day prophesies, I observed the blood moons as a beautiful symbolic event. I love how in complete darkness and shadow the moon turns a crimson color but emerges out of the stained blood color into a luminous white color. Only through the redemptive power of our Lord Jesus Christ can we do the same.

Photo taken on  September 27th around 8:30 PM 
 
Photo taken of the emerging moon after the lunar eclipse on September 27th around 10:30 PM.
 
 
I thought this was interesting. Not sure it is true, but a fun fact in case it is:
 
When Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World, he brought with him an almanac written by a great German astronomer, Johannes Müller von Königsberg, known by his Latin pseudonym, Regiomontanus. The almanac covered the years 1475-1506. Regiomontanus' almanac listed upcoming eclipses of the moon.

On his third and final voyage in May 1502, Columbus became shipwrecked on the island of Jamaica in June 1503 and ran into trouble with the local natives who refused to provide food and water for his crew.  But Columbus also knew from Regiomontanus' almanac that a total eclipse of the moon was expected shortly after moonrise on the evening of Feb. 29, 1504, so he threatened the natives to cut off the moon's light.

 As the eclipse progressed, the frightened natives agreed to help Columbus ... if he brought the moon back to them. Since he knew when totality would end, Columbus told the natives when the moon would reappear. He had no problems with the natives after that.







1 comment:

boo said...

The Columbus story is true or more accurately he wrote about it is his journal in exactly the way you summarized it Read Samuel Morrison's " Admiral of the Ocean Sea". You might also be interested in his recounting of his men encountering a man of very light skin dressed all in white teaching a group if natives. Some would say sounds like John or one of the three Nephites