Missed your chance on seeing the first total lunar eclipse back in April 2014 that turned the moon into a reddish hue in the night sky? Great news! Another total lunar eclipse will occur early tomorrow morning and be visible across the entire United States.
According to NASA, the blood moon will start at 6:25 a.m. ET (3:25 a.m. PT) and end at 7:24 a.m. ET (4:24 a.m. PT) Wednesday. It will be visible throughout North America and South America, but not for people living in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
"The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the U.S.A.," said NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak.
According to a report from CNN, this will be the second lunar eclipse in a sequence of four known as the tetrad that are occurring in approximate six-month intervals. Other blood moons in the tetrad are expected to appear on April 4, 2015, and Sept. 28, 2015.
A USA Today report notes that this lunar eclipse is considered to be a "blood" moon due to its appearance in coppery red. This occurs when the Earth positions itself between the sun and moon, creating a full lunar eclipse with a majestic red hue that comes from reddish sunlight reflecting from the moon at a certain position.
The lunar eclipse will occur at the closest point to Earth in the moon's orbit. CNN has noted that this will make the blood moon appear about 5.3 percent larger than the one that happened on April 15, making it the size of a super moon.
According to ABC News, the best place to view the blood moon will be in the middle of the Pacific Ocean under clear skies. Unlike solar eclipses, which require eyewear protection, the lunar eclipse can be safely seen with the naked eye.
However, some religious people have interpreted the blood moons in a tetrad as an ominous sign from God. According to an article from EarthSky, Christian pastors Mark Blitz and John Hagee may have been responsible for popularizing the phrase "blood moon," especially in Hagee's 2013 book "Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change."
Other people may interpret this lunar eclipse as part of a religious sign due to the fact that the tetrad coincides with two important holidays in the Jewish calendar, Passover and Tabernacles. According to EarthSky, this coincidence between the Jewish holidays and lunar eclipses featuring blood moons has only happened eight times before in history.
NASA has said that lunar eclipses occur twice a year. However, Espenak told CNN that there was a 300-year period before the 20th century where no lunar eclipses happened in the night sky.
The Slooh Community Observatory and NASA will broadcast live webcasts of the total lunar eclipse set to occur on Wednesday (Oct. 8).
