Blood Moon in Coming Lunar Eclipse: The View from Woodbridge

By Deb Belt (Patch Staff)

The second of the year’s four total lunar eclipses – creating what is often called a “blood moon” – will occur just before sunrise Wednesday, Oct. 8.

The eclipse is the Northern Hemisphere’s hunter’s moon – the name for the full moon after the harvest moon, says EarthSky.org, and the show is often phenomenal.

During the sky-watching buzz leading up to the total lunar eclipse in April 2014, the term lunar tetrad was coined to name the four eclipses in a row, the organization says. Each eclipse is separated from the other by six lunar months (six full moons).

When to Watch

Early risers can catch the lunar eclipse as it begins around 5:15 a.m. in Virginia; the maximum eclipse should take place at 6:55 a.m., just before the moon sets in the west.

Forecast in Virginia

The early forecast from the National Weather Service calls for a chance of showers Tuesday night, with mostly sunny skies Wednesday. 

Why the Eerie Name?

According to EarthSky, a full moon almost always takes on a copper hue during a total lunar eclipse, caused by light dispersion from the Earth’s sunrises and sunsets.

“Thus the term blood moon can be and probably is applied to any and all total lunar eclipses,” EarthSky reports.

Image: The April 2014 so-called blood moon. Credit: Space.com