During the eclipse, the shadow of the planet Earth covers the Moon, turning reddish due to the refraction and dispersion of light by the Earth’s atmosphere, and that is why many call it the Blood Moon.
The story of the Blood Moon, why is it called that?
But the name of Luna de Sangre also has a historical background. Julieta Fierro Gossman, a researcher at the UNAM Institute of Astronomy, explained to the university gazette that, in the time of Christ, King Herod fell in love with Salomé, daughter of his wife Herodias from his previous marriage.
Herod begged Salome to dance for him the dance of the seven winds. She refused and, to convince her of it, the king offered her all kinds of riches and even half of her kingdom. But Salome only agreed on the condition that her stepfather show her, on a silver platter, the head of the prophet John the Baptist.
Herod wanted to dissuade her from such a request, but she was irreducible. Then the ambitious king, to fulfill his wishes, granted Salome’s whim and had the prophet’s head cut off. That day there was a total lunar eclipse, which was also dyed an intense red. Since then, the total lunar eclipse has been known as the Blood Moon.
When is the next total lunar eclipse?
A total lunar eclipse occurs, on average, once every year and a half. In this sense, the next total lunar eclipse will not occur until 2025.