Interesting Facts And Myths About Lunar Eclipse

While sky gazers eagerly wait to witness the first total lunar eclipse of 2014, many superstitious people are also busy preparing to counter the bad omens and dangers that this celestial event may bring.

According to Space Update, the lunar eclipse will commence from 2 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on April 14 and will last for around three and a half hours until early Tuesday morning of April 15.

As the lunar eclipse takes place, the moon's color may exude a bloody red or coppery color which comes from the reflection of sunset and sunrise. If weather permits, excited gazers can view the event outside their own homes. They may also view NASA's live broadcast from Space.com

There are still other total lunar eclipse predicted by astronomers to occur within the next two years. The same event is set to take place on Oct. 8, 2014, April 4, 2015 and Sep. 28, 2015. E.C. Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory, is well aware that science and superstition will both be observed as the throng of people watches the various phases of the lunar eclipse to unfold.

"Based on past experience, we expect a very large crowd to show up," Krupp says, as staff and astronomers gather on the Los Angeles observatory's front lawn with telescopes and with noisemakers," he said.

Meanwhile, Chinese communities commonly ring loud bells during the eclipse in their belief to remove the dogs or other wild animals which bit the moon. Ancient Romans also make loud noises to frighten the demon which causes the lunar eclipse. For the Eskimos, they turn their utensils outside to prevent the spread of diseases coming from the rays of the diseases moon during the lunar eclipse.

In the National Geographic report, traditional Mesopotamian era also installed a substitute king to endure the direct attacks of the seven demons during the event while the actual king disguised himself as an ordinary person. After the lunar eclipse, the real king takes back his throne while the substitute king vanished.

In their belief that the bright light of the moon is extinguished, the Red Indians in the Ojibawas sect throw the moon with lighted arrows to revive the moon's luminosity.