Third lunar eclipse of the Tetrad to make night sky glow red this weekend
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The moon is set to turn a sinister-looking blood red this Easter weekend.
The total lunar eclipse will transform the moon on Saturday night and will be visible in the skies of North America, Asia and Australia.
According to one US pastor, the event was predicted in the Bible and hints at an imminent world-changing event, but Nasa is quick to point out that the change in hue is entirely harmless.
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Saturday's total lunar eclipse, which will turn the moon a burnt reddish orange, will be visible in in the skies of North America, Asia and Australia. A previous total lunar eclipse as seen from Mexico city on December 21, 2010 is pictured
The eclipse is the third in a series of four blood moons, with the final one expected on September 28.
Pastor John Hagee told The Mirror that the sight suggests a world-changing event will take place, as predicted in the Bible.
According to the King James Bible: 'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord comes.'
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Mr Hagee, who has written a book on the Tetrad called 'Four Blood Moons', said that because the Blood Moon falls on Easter Weekend, it's a sign that 'something dramatic will happen which will change the whole world'.
The event is called a Tetrad since it involves four successive total blood red lunar eclipses each followed by six full moons.
'I believe we're going to see something dramatic happen in the Middle East involving Israel that will change the course of history in the Middle East and impact the whole world,' he said.
The strange celestial sight, which will be visible in the US, was predicted in the Bible and could hint at a world-changing event, such as the return of Christ, according to one pastor. This image shows the red moon over a church in LA during the last blood moon in October last year
There are numerous mentions of blood moons in the Bible, such as in the Book of Joel, chapter two, which says the 'Day of the Lord will be as when the sun refuses to shine' and in Luke, which hints that signs in the sun, moon and stars will tell of the second coming.
While the Bible prophesises blood moons, it does not give a timeline of when the significant event will happen.
Mr Hagee said: 'It just says "when you see these signs" - and four blood moons is a very significant one - '"the end of this age is coming."'
While the event may be of huge religious significance to some people, for others it will simply be a chance to see something beautiful light up the night sky.
The lunar eclipse will occur when the moon passes behind the Earth, into its shadow.
WHAT HAPPENS DURING A 'BLOOD RED' LUNAR ECLIPSE
A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in the shadow of Earth. This is an area known as the umbra, where light from the sun is blocked by our planet.
The light refracts differently in the atmosphere and, as it hits the moon, it appears red.
This gives rise to its 'blood red' appearance during a total eclipse, when the entire moon is in shadow. If it skirts the shadow, known as a partial or penumbral eclipse, the effect is less dramatic.
When the moon first enters the Earth's partial shadow, know as the penumbra, a dark shadow begins to creep across the moon.
This gives the illusion that the moon is changing phases in a matter of minutes instead of weeks.
At the eclipse's peak, the moon enters the Earth's full shadow; the umbra.
At this stage, the Earth's atmosphere scatters the sun's red visible light; the same process that turns the sky red at sunset.
As a result, the red light reflects off the moon's surface, casting a reddish rust hue over it
Blood moons - an image from the last event is shown- are predicted in the Bible. According to the King James Bible: 'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord comes'
'During the eclipse, the moon often looks reddish because sunlight has passed through Earth's atmosphere, which filters out most of its blue light,' Nasa said.
'This eerie, harmless effect has earned the tongue-in-cheek nickname "blood moon"'
The 'Tetrad' of four alignments within two years, happens just a few times in every 2,000 years.
Sky watchers will have to be quick to catch this installment because Nasa predicts the total eclipse will last for just five minutes in the US.
The partial phases will be visible on April 4 just before the sun rises in the US, Space.com reported.
People living on the West Coast of America will see the moon turn red from 7.58am (11.58 GMT), while sky watchers in Australia, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia will see the total phases for up 12 minutes, from 7.54am EDT.
An airliner crosses the moon's path above Whittier, California, one hour before a total lunar eclipse earlier this year which some people believe signifies the beginning of a number of significant religious event
Other-worldly: The incredible view from the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife
Illuminating: The moon glows orange, as seen from Milwaukee in the USA
Saturday's total lunar eclipse, which will turn the moon a burnt reddish orange, will be visible in in the skies of North America, Asia and Australia. In this image the last blood moon is situated high above Sydney
The 'Tetrad,' cycle began in April last year. It involves a series of four dark red 'blood moons.' At the end of the cycle in September 2015, some believe the end of the world will happen
The final blood moon of the Tetrad will occur on September 28 and there will be nine sets of them in the 21st century.
But Nasa has previously said that the Tetrad only happened three times in the past 500 years.
From 1600 to 1900, for example, there were none at all.
According to Mr Hagee, each time the Tetrad has happened during that time, there has been a significant religious event accompanied with it.
In 1493, the first Tetrad saw the expulsion of Jews by the Catholic Spanish Inquisition.
The second happened in 1949, right after the State of Israel was founded.
And the most recent one, in 1967, happened during the Six-Day War between Arabs and Israelis.
Mr Hagee said that the first of the Tetrad blood moons happened on April 15, right in the middle of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
The second, on October 8, occured during the Feast of the Tabernacle.
The third, this Saturday is also occurring during Passover and on Easter weekend.
The final one happens on September 28, 2015, during the Feast of the Tabernacles.
The final blood moon of the Tetrad will occur on September 28 and there will be nine sets of them in the 21st century.The moon is seen glowing red and partially obscured in shadow as it rises during a total lunar eclipse from Kathmandu, Nepal in October
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