April 14, 2014

White Dog and The White Dog Army took extra naps so that they could delay their bedtime walks VERY late in order to view tonight's Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse. Steve, who needed sleep because Tuesday is his VERY late teaching night, was as insistent as they were and agreed to an after dinner nap so that he, too, could go out at 1am to view the phenomenon. 

Here is what the website EarthSky has to say about the specialness of the event…A lunar tetrad – four total lunar eclipses in a row – begins on the night of April 14-15. People are calling it a Blood Moon eclipse. The first Blood Moon eclipse in a series of four is coming up on the night of April 14-15, 2014. This total eclipse of the moon will be visible from the Americas. We in astronomy had not heard the term Blood Moon used in quite this way before this year, but now the term featured in a book by John Hagee is becoming widespread in the media. The second total lunar eclipse of the coming lunar tetrad will take place on October 8, the same night as the Hunter’s Moon. So there will be two reasons to use the term Blood Moon that night.

This is information that Steve found more interesting than the White Dog Army but all walked the neighborhood and stood in awe on the deck watching the eclipse turn the moon, indeed, blood red. And the WDA joined several of the other dogs on our block...also out with their humans to view the night sky...in a song of respect to the magic and power of what they witnessed.

Here are a couple of photos taken by our local TV station of the eclipse as seen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.