This Sunday is the fourth of the total lunar eclipse series that started in April 2014. Normally, there are two lunar eclipses in a year about six months apart. When we have four total lunar eclipses in a row over an 17/18 month period, it's called a tetrad. Tetrads are considered unusual. As a matter of fact, the years from 1600 to 1900 contained no tetrads. The 21st century will experience a total of eight separate tetrads.
Lunar eclipses can be penumbral where the Moon just skirts the Earth's shadow - a subtle eclipse that may go unnoticed unless one is expecting it. Lunar eclipses can be partial where the Earth darkens only a portion of the Moon. And, lunar eclipses can be total like the one Sunday night/Monday morning where the Moon will be cast entirely into shadow by the Earth and turn a reddish color for up to an hour or so.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group gives Kossacks a safe place to check in, a daily diary where we can let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, earthquakes, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It also allows us to find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, earthquakes etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a Kosmail and ask to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
We do have a diary schedule. But, when you are ready to write that diary, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMOM a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FloridaSNMOM is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
Monday:
BadKitties
Tuesday:
ejoanna
Wednesday:
Caedy
Thursday:
art ah zen
Friday:
FloridaSNMOM
Saturday:
Siris
Sunday:
loggersbrat
Below is a NASA video explaining the tetrad and how total lunar eclipses are set up between the Sun, Earth and Moon. Lucky for us, all of the lunar eclipses in this tetrad have been visible in the US. This one on Sunday night/Monday morning is no exception.
Follow me below the orange curlicue for more details on the lunar eclipse.
For those of us on the west coast of the US, the eclipse starts at sunset with the moon rise. For best viewing, find a spot with a clear view of the eastern horizon and watch the Moon go into total shadow and turn a reddish color as she rises higher into the night sky.
This full Moon is considered a Supermoon because the Moon will be the closest to Earth this time. The Moon is still 200,000 or so miles away, but she should look bigger in the sky. If your skies are cloudy, NASA has you covered. They will live stream beginning at 5 pm PDT until at least 8 pmPDT. They will be broadcasting from the Griffith Observatory in LA along with other observatories in the US. The total eclipse will start at 7.11 pm PDT and peaks about 40 minutes later.
Astrologically, this tetrad of the moon has all been in the signs of Aries/Libra - polar opposites in the zodiac. Aries is the start of the zodiac, the child, the sign that is all about ourselves. Libra is the first sign of being out in the world; it is the sign of how one relates to others, the sign of partnerships. Where Aries is about Self, Libra is about Other.
Lunar eclipses are emotional. They are also about letting go but are much more personal than solar eclipses. Where the solar eclipse this month may have insisted we let go of something in the outer world, this eclipse may insist on our letting go of something inside of ourselves. And where solar eclipses may make themselves felt up to three months before the event, lunar eclipses have a much shorter time frame. Expect your letting go of some emotional attachment to a relationship to happen within a day or two before or after the eclipse. Of course, dealing with the aftermath of that letting go make take a month or two after the eclipse is over. September has been a very active month astrologically. We had a solar eclipse, then Mercury went retrograde, then the autumnal equinox, Mars entered Virgo and Pluto went direct within hours of one another and now this total lunar eclipse. Whew.
The eclipse is at 5 degrees of Aries/Libra. Those of you with personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) and/or Ascendant/Midheaven/lunar nodes from 0 to 10 degrees of Aries/Libra will be the most impacted. Those with the same planets/personal points in 5 to 10 degrees of Cancer (family, nationalism, tradition)/Capricorn (government, social institutions, career, public prominence) will also be strongly impacted. Out of curiosity, I looked up Rep Boehner's chart. No birth time available, but his Uranus (sudden, unexpected changes) at 5 degrees of Cancer making an exact T-square to the eclipse leads to transiting Pluto (secrets, underworld) in Capricorn going direct within arc minutes of his natal Venus (values, possessions, ethics) as an outlet for the tension/challenges inherent in a T-square. My speculation is his resignation was a sudden emotional decision having to do with his ethics being revealed regarding a partnership. Your speculations may vary.
I'll leave you with a final NASA video about this Super Moon total eclipse because science!