Salva Mubarak Senior Features Writer

There’s a lot going on in the Space community, with black holes being photographed and ‘doorways’ being spotted on Mars. The latest space news to get excited about is the recently spotted Blood Moon as a result of the longest observed instance of total lunar eclipse in 33 years. Let me preface by saying that while a Super Blood Moon sounds incredibly scary and cool, it has nothing to do with blood sacrifices or witchcraft as you might think it does and everything to do with physics and science and all the stuff that might not necessarily align with your many Tumblr moodboards. I just want you to manage your expectations, that’s all.

A few hours ago, the first lunar eclipse of 2022 ended and the world got to witness a rare blood moon. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is safe to be viewed with a naked eye, but unfortunately it wasn’t visible in India, and the rest of Asia, this time. But people all over the world have recorded the stunning occurrence and uploaded it online for everyone to see.

The full moon spent about 85 minutes in the earth’s shadow, the longest time it has spent in eclipse since 1989 when it spent about 96 minutes in the Umbra.

While NASA has set up a livestream to discuss the lunar eclipse and get experts to answer your burning questions, here are a few common ones answered:

Why was the moon red during the eclipse?

The reason why the moon turned red is because of something called the Rayleigh Scattering Effect. This means that when the Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the moon, it casts two types of shadows. One is called penumbra, the larger shadow, and the other is called umbra, the smaller, darker shadow. In a total eclipse, the moon falls in the umbra shadow and refracts red light particles back to the Earth. This is why it appears to be cast in a reddish hue during the event. The shade of red depends on the amount of dusts and clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere. The reason they call it a ‘Blood Moon’ and not a ‘Reddish-coloured moon because it refracts the red light particles’ moon is because Blood Moon sounds cooler and will make you sound vaguely witch-like when you blame all your actions on it for the next few days.

Will we see it every month?

In case you didn’t know, a lunar eclipse is a cosmic event that takes place every full moon. While a full moon happens every 29 and a half days, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we would get to see a blood moon every month. It’s not because the Universe has it in for you and doesn’t want you to have the mandatory blood moon shot, blurry or not, on your social feeds. It could be because of that, the Universe is a mystery, but it’s also because of the fact that the moon’s orbit is tilted in a way that it only allows a total eclipse, that is when the Earth, moon, and sun are aligned perfectly, only twice a year, and sometimes not even once a calendar year.

When can we see a Blood Moon in India?

The next total lunar eclipse is slated to occur on November 8, 2022 and will be visible to some parts of India, not all.

What does a Blood Moon mean for my zodiac sign?

Will the presence of a Blood Moon this month have any effect on your horoscope? Read our May 2022 horoscope to figure that out now.