Watch Tonight’s Lunar Eclipse Without Fear and Prove You Are Evolved
Isn’t it nice to be evolved?
Sure, our ancestors shit their loincloths when they saw the moon turn red like blood during a total eclipse, figuring a sky dragon ate it, obvs. But you and I can watch it without fear from our own backyards or, weather or location not permitting, from our ingenious computerized viewing boxes.
Of course, the way science education is going, your great grandkids will probably be back to the pants-shitting and dragon-explaining by the time they get around to viewing lunar eclipses, but that’s just something for you to chuckle at in your dotage.
According to space.com, the coming lunar eclipse runs from about 12:53 a.m. EDT (0453 GMT) to about 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT). The eclipse is expected to be total at about 3:06 a.m. EDT, which may create a spectacularly beautiful reddish moon that lasts more than hour. It should be viewable in most of North America and parts of South America.
Weather won’t be permitting in a lot of places, unfortunately. Where I live, for example, a raging forest fire has nearly whited-out the sky. If the sky is yucky or you don’t live in a place where you can see the eclipse, you can check out a livestream here:
http://www.space.com/19195-night-sky-planets-asteroids-webcasts.html
And here is space.com’s viewing guide:
http://www.space.com/25479-total-lunar-eclipse-2014-skywatching-guide.html
The eclipse tonight is just the start of the fun. It’s the first of a “lunar eclipse tetrad,” four consecutive eclipses occurring at six month intervals. But don’t use the repeats as an excuse to skip this one, for all you know you’ll get hit by a bus before then.
And yes, it goes without saying that the tetrad is not a harbinger of the apocalypse or a bad omen as some have suggested, but sadly scientists have had to point that out and debunk books like “Four Blood Moons” by John Hagee. So keep your pants clean and embrace the wonder of nature.