Be alert and prepared for a significant increase in geological and atmospheric events for the rest of the month of April...
Rare Sight: Mars, Earth and Sun Will Align Next Week
Mars will be exactly opposite the sun in the sky in a rare cosmic alignment set to take place Tuesday (April 8).
Called an opposition, this happens with Mars from Earth's perspective every 778 days, or 2 years, 1 month and 18 days. Think of Earth and Mars as two cars racing on circular tracks. Because Earth is closer to the sun, it travels faster, completing a circuit in 365 days. Mars is farther from the sun and takes longer, 687 days. By the time Mars has completed one circuit, Earth has a lot of catching up to do to get to a point between the Red Planet and the sun.
This is complicated by the fact that the two racetracks are not exact circles. As Johannes Kepler discovered in the 16th century, the planets follow slightly elliptical paths around the sun, sometimes closer to the Sun (perihelion), sometimes farther away (aphelion). [Best Night Sky Events of April 2014: Stargazing Sky Maps (Gallery)]
Some planets, like Venus and Earth, follow paths that are almost perfect circles. Other planets, like Mercuryand Mars, follow more elliptical orbits, which are described as being more eccentric, or differing from a circle.
On the day of opposition, Mars, Earth and the sun fall on a straight line. Six days later, both planets will have moved a little along their orbits, but, because of the eccentricity of its orbit, Mars will be slightly closer to Earth than it was before.
'Blood moon' rising: Total lunar eclipse on April 14-15, first in rare series
A total lunar eclipse set to sweep the skies on April 14-15 and turn the moon blood-red just before midnight has got scientists excited and some Christians fearing for the end of days.
The coppery moon will be the first of two total lunar eclipses in 2014 as well as the opening act in a lunar tetrad – four total lunar eclipses in series.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align, causing the Earth's shadow to fall on the moon, darkening it. The crimson color the moon takes on during an eclipse comes about because of the refraction of sunlight through the Earth's atmosphere. This, incidentally, is the very same effect that causes sunsets to appear red.
The April 14-15 eclipse will begin at 21:20 GMT according to Sky and Telescope magazine. The other three eclipses in the "tetrad" will be in October, April 2015 and September 2015. Griffith Observatorywill stream the event live.
A small group of Christians, however, view the upcoming event as a biblical prophecy sounding the end of times.
John Hagee, pastor and author of ‘Four Blood Moons: Something Is About to Change,’ cites Joel 2:31 as evidence, which says: "The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come."
Prophecy In The News speaks with Pastor Mark Biltz regarding his discovery of the relationship between solar and lunar eclipses and prophetic events. Watch the first portion of this fascinating interview below...(1st segment of PITN show #1)
See also:
Blood moon eclipses: 2nd Coming in 2015?
Under a Blood Red Moon
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