Lunar Eclipse Tonight – NASA Tries to Tamp Down the Crazy

Above,  someone did a really nice job on the graphics for this segment where an ABC interviewer chats with Dr. Michelle Fowler of Goddard Space Flight Center.  I wasn’t aware there was a panic going on in fundamentalist religious circles over tonight’s “blood moon” total lunar eclipse, but once again, I’ve been out of the loop.

In a country where a sizable number of people believe the sun goes around the earth, this is a healthy reminder that all of us have a responsibility as science communicators – and not just in areas of climate.

Raw Story:

Pastor John Hagee is warning members of his megachurch to prepare for the end of the world because a “blood moon” eclipse on Tuesday is signaling that the End Times could be beginning.

On Tuesday, most of the United States will be treated to the first of four complete lunar eclipses — which scientists call a tetrad — occurring in six month intervals. The eclipses are often referred to as “blood moons” because as sunlight shines on the moon through the Earth’s atmosphere, it gives the moon a red color.

Hagee, pastor of Texas’ Cornerstone Church, has written a book on the phenomenon titled Blood Moons: Something is About to Change. And he is airing a live television event on Tuesday to reveal “direct connections between four upcoming blood-moon eclipses and what they portend for Israel and all of humankind.”

USAToday:

The tetrad — or four consecutive and complete lunar eclipses occurring at approximately six-month intervals — will all be visible over the United States this year and next, according to NASA lunar eclipse expert Fred Espenak.

While Espenak sees it as a frequent and naturally occurring event, best-selling author and Texas televangelist pastor John Hagee sees the four blood moons as evidence of a future “world-shaking event” that begins to fulfill End Times prophecy.

The controversial 73-year-old founder of Texas’ Cornerstone Church says he has been preparing for this tetrad for years. The preparation includes a book — Blood Moons: Something is About to Change and an online TV special Tuesday.

“What is the prophetic significance (of the four blood moons)? Is this the end of the age?” Hagee asked his congregation during a sermon shortly after his book was released, Christianity Today reports.

He cites Acts 2:19-20 as a sign: “And I will show wonders in Heaven above and signs in the Earth beneath, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.”

And in a related development..

San Jose Mercury News:

Actress Kate Mulgrew, who played Capt. Kathryn Janeway in “Star Trek: Voyager,” is narrating a documentary promoting the idea that the sun revolves around Earth.

That’s true — but only because the Kardashians are on it.

“Everything we think we know about our universe is wrong,” Mulgrew’s voice argues over cosmic images in the trailer for “The Principle,” according to the DailyMail.com.

So … Lindsay Lohan really has talent?

The film, which will be released this spring, was partially backed by a well known anti-Semitic and far-right conservative, Robert Sungenis, who runs a blog called “Galileo Was Wrong.” Scientists such as Michio Kaku, Lawrence Krauss, and Max Tegmart all appear in the trailer, talking about the Earth’s unique characteristics that allow it to sustain life.
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This isn’t the first time Sungenis has thumbed his nose at history and/or science. According toRawStory.com, he has also argued no one proved that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust and that Jews were in a conspiracy with Satan to take over the planet.