So far, the skies above South Dakota are forecast to be party cloudy so we should be able to catch a glimpse of the lunar eclipse before the sun comes up Tuesday morning. Monday night's eclipse, or 'Blood Moon', will begin just before midnight, April 14th, and conclude in the early morning hours of the 15th with the best viewing time to be between 1a.m. and 3a.m. The reddest (or bloodiest) view be be precisely at 2:07a.m. when the moon is entirely covered by the earth's shadow.

One of the reasons the term 'Blood Moon' is receiving a lot of attention is that it's religious in nature. Some of the world's leading biblical scholars are particularly interested in this sequence of four total lunar eclipses because they coincidentally align themselves perfectly with Jewish observances.


The four 'Blood Moon' events are:

Total lunar eclipse: April 14-15
Total lunar eclipse: October 8

Total lunar eclipse: April 4
Total lunar eclipse: September 28




"The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the LORD comes." - Joel 2:31



Adding to the spectacular heavenly array is a total solar eclipse on March 20, 2015. Even by astronomy's standards, all of these occurring in the next 18 months is quite rare indeed.
