'Blood moon'

Stargazers in the Americas and Asia were treated to a lunar eclipse Wednesday, a celestial show
that bathed the moon in a reddish tint to create a "blood moon."
During the total lunar eclipse, light beams into Earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow that
gies it a red hue.
!he early phase of the eclipse began at "#"" $%!, or &'"" am, on the east coast of the (nited
States.
)ASA proided lie footage ia telescope of the eclipse, showing a blac* shadow creeping
across the moon in a crawl that too* about an hour.
+nly when the moon was totally eclipsed did the redness appear. !he total eclipse was also to
last about an hour, and ditto for the return to its normal colour. !he total eclipse happened at ,'-.
am on the (S east coast /0"-. $%!1.
!he )ASA web site was peppered with !weets bubbling with 2uestions and comments on the
heaenly phenomenon.
"!his is amazing. !han* you for this opportunity," read a !weet from the handle 3!he $raity
Die.
"4s there any crime increase during this process5 Any psychological problems5" wrote a person
who identified herself as Alisa 6oung.
7ust before the clima8, 9athi :ennesey in ;alifornia wrote, "Watching from San <rancisco =ay
Area. 7ust a slier now."
> ?ing of fire >
A )ASA commentator e8plained that during the total eclipse, if you were standing on the moon
and loo*ing at the earth, you would see it all blac*, with ring of fire around it.
4n :ong 9ong, free iewing locations were set up on a harborside promenade by the :ong 9ong
Space %useum for the public to obsere the arious phases on telescopes.
4n !o*yo's ?oppongi fashion and entertainment district, enthusiasts performed yoga e8ercises
under the blood moon. %any others had climbed atop the city's s*yscrapers to iew the s*y.
+n Australia's east coast, a lie ideo feed set up by the Sydney +bseratory was hit by cloud
coer, thwarting some iewers.
4n )ew @ealand, the moon will be close to its highest point in the s*y, according to Auc*land's
Stardome +bseratory A Blanetarium, ma*ing for a iew of the spectacle unobstructed by
buildings.
4n :ong 9ong, hundreds of patient onloo*ers of all ages lined the harborfront promenade late
Wednesday hoping for a glimpse of the eclipse.
%any came armed with cameras and telescopes but on a cloudy eening in a city whose s*y is
rarely clear of pollution haze, it was isible only intermittently.
With tweets from across the iewing countries in Asia, one in )ew @ealand described the eclipse
as "omg the s*y is red right now... at 0-'-, am in Auc*land" with the hashtag
"Csofrea*ingcoool ."
After clouds on Australia's east coast, the Sydney +bseratory welcomed a sighting with "We
saw the blood %oon finallyD".
"Sydney s*ygazers didn't completely miss out tonight, though the cloud did dampen eeryone's
spirits early on," said the !he Sydney %orning in a lie report on the eclipse.
!he eent was not isible in Africa or Europe, )ASA said.
!he eclipse is the second of four total lunar eclipses, which started with a first "blood moon" on
April 0., in a series astronomers call a tetrad.
!he ne8t two total lunar eclipses will be on April & and September -# of ne8t year.
!he last time a tetrad too* place was in -""E>-""&, with the ne8t predicted for -"E->-"EE. 4n
total, the -0st century will see eight tetrads.