In an event that only happens every 778 days, Mars, Earth, and the Sun aligned last night in what science calls an 'opposition of planets.' Here on Earth, sky watchers were able to see Mars. The planet looked just like a bright, fiery-colored star, resembling Sirius, the brightest star in the universe.
Though it's not often we see Mars, what also made this event so unique is that it took place exactly one week before those here on Earth will lay eyes on the first of four 'blood moon' Lunar eclipses, an event some Christians believe is linked to the End of Days and the second coming of Jesus Christ.
This belief is based on biblical prophecy. In Joel 2:31, the Bible says, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD comes."
But NASA also believes the lunar tetrad – four successive blood moons – is also very unusual. They too have acknowledged that four 'blood-red' lunar eclipses, followed by six full moons will begin on Tuesday and finish September 28, 2015, by the time next year's Jewish Feast of Tabernacles arrives.
Express News reports that the rare astronomical event has only happened a handful of times in the last two thousand years. Surprisingly, however, the last three times have coincided with globally significant religious events.
The tetrad that took place in 1493, saw the Catholic Spanish Inquisition expel Jews. It was an event that changed western Europe dramatically.
The second tetrad took place at the same time the State of Israel was finally established in 1949, after years of struggle.
The last tetrad, which occurred in 1967 happened at the exact same time of the Six-Day Arab–Israeli War.
John Hagee, author of the bestselling book, Four Blood Moons: Something is about to change, believes based on biblical study, that the blood moons will usher in a dramatic change in world events.
"Every time this has happened in the last 500 years, it has coincided with tragedy for the Jewish people followed by triumph. And once again, for Israel, the timing of this Tetrad is remarkable," the famous preacher and televangelist told Express News.
However, according to Earthsky.org, three out of four of the blood moons cannot be viewed from Israel.
The first of the four blood moons will take place on April 15 during Passover. The second will be on October 8, during the Feast of the Tabernacles. On April 4, 2015 the third lunar eclipse will arrive and on September 28, 2015 the final blood moon will decent upon us, during the Feast of Tabernacles.
The upcoming eclipse can be observed from the central Atlantic westward to eastern Australia.
