The Longest Lunar Eclipse of the Century

On Friday 27 July the longest lunar eclipse of the century (so far) will take place. Also known as a blood moon, this occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align perfectly, putting the moon in the Earth's shadow. The moon will be totally eclipsed by the Earth for one hour and 43 minutes. The red colouring is a result of sunlight refracting through the Earth's atmosphere

• The sun shall turn to darkness, and the moon to blood, prior to the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

דהַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ יֵהָפֵ֣ךְ לְחֹ֔שֶׁךְ וְהַיָּרֵ֖חַ לְדָ֑ם לִפְנֵ֗י בּוֹא י֣וֹם יְהֹוָ֔ה הַגָּד֖וֹל וְהַנּוֹרָֽא:

• And it shall come to pass that whoever shall call in the name of the Lord shall be delivered, for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be a deliverance, as the Lord said, and among the survivors whom the Lord invites.

 הוְהָיָ֗ה כֹּ֧ל אֲשֶׁר־יִקְרָ֛א בְּשֵׁ֥ם יְהֹוָ֖ה יִמָּלֵ֑ט כִּ֠י בְּהַר־צִיּ֨וֹן וּבִירֽוּשָׁלִַ֜ם תִּֽהְיֶ֣ה פְלֵיטָ֗ה כַּֽאֲשֶׁר֙ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה וּבַ֨שְּׂרִידִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה קֹרֵֽא:

Yoel Chapter 3:4-5

Chabad:In the creation story at the beginning of the book of Genesis,9 the Torah states, “And G‑d said, "Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens … and they shall be for signs and for appointed seasons and for days and years.” The classic commentaries explain that “they shall be for signs” is a reference to eclipses.10 Thus, we learn that these phenomena are meant to be a sign for us.

At the same time, the prophet Jeremiah proclaims, “Hearken to the word that the L‑rd spoke about you, O house of Israel . . . So says the L‑rd: ‘Of the way of the nations you shall not learn, and from the signs of the heaven be not dismayed…’”11

In other words, these are indeed “signs in the heavens,” yet the prophet tells us that we should not fear them, for, as the sages of the Talmud explain, as long as one acts properly, there is nothing to fear.

BEGINS 8:50 in the UK,  

30 minutes later it will turn RED, 

an hour after that it will be WHITE again, 

As the moon rises on Friday, the longest lunar eclipse of this century will begin, offering skywatchers the chance to view over four hours of the moon crossing the Earth’s shadow with close to two hours of complete eclipse.

As well as being abnormally long, this eclipse, like most lunar eclipses, will appear a deep red with the sun’s rays entering through the earth’s atmosphere to project a blood-like glow onto the moon.

“there’s a sense in the world that things are changing and God is trying to communicate with us in a supernatural way.”



“We are in the era of the apocalypse. And this blood moon, which will be the longest blood moon of this century, is happening in the 70th year of Israel being a nation,”[. . .] “It’s happening in the 70th year that Jerusalem has been declared the eternal city of God.”

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This total lunar eclipse is fully visible in Jerusalem. The total lunar eclipse is sometimes called a blood moon, as the Moon turns red. Visit AstronomyIsrael for more about the Full Eclipse.

EarthSky: The full moon on the night of July 27-28, 2018, presents the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century (2001 to 2100). The total phase of the eclipse – called the totality – spans 1 hour 42 minutes and 57 seconds. That’s in contrast to the shortest total lunar eclipse of this century, which occurred on April 4, 2015 and lasted 4 minutes and 48 seconds. And it’s in contrast to 2018’s other total lunar eclipse – on January 31, 2018 – whose totality lasted 1 hour and 16 minutes.

A partial eclipse precedes and follows the total phase of the eclipse, each time lasting 1 hour and 6 minutes. So, from start to finish – on July 27-28, 2018 – the moon spends nearly 4 hours (3 hours and 55 minutes) crossing the Earth’s dark umbral shadow. Wow! That’s a long eclipse.

Adding to the excitement on eclipse night … this eclipse will happen on the same night that Earth is passing between the sun and Mars, placing Mars at opposition in our sky. In one of the sky’s wonderful coincidences, the Mars opposition happens on July 27, too. It’s not just any Mars opposition, but the best Mars opposition since 2003. Mars is very bright and red throughout July and August, 2018. But eclipse night will be a very special night. On July 27, the sun, Earth and moon are aligned – placing the moon opposite the sun in our sky – producing an eclipse as Earth’s shadow falls on the moon’s face. On the same night, the sun, Earth and Mars are also aligned, bringing Mars also opposite the sun in our sky, just like the full moon. That’s fun to think about, but there’s more for those who plan to observe the eclipse.

The greatest eclipse (20:22 UTC) takes place at or around midnight for Madagascar and the Middle East. Europe and Africa view the greatest eclipse during the evening hours (sometime between sunset and midnight on July 27), whereas most of Asia, Indonesia and Australia view the greatest eclipse in the morning (sometime between midnight and sunrise on July 28).