<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Wednesday morning, the moon will turn blood red.</p>
<p>This phenomenon is known as a blood moon, but is basically just a total lunar eclipse.</p>
<p>Tomorrow will be your last chance to see a total lunar eclipse until <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_21st-century_lunar_eclipses">April, 2015</a>. So don't miss it!</p>
<p>The eclipse will begin at 4:17 a.m. EDT (1:17 a.m. PDT) and last through 9:32 a.m. EDT (6:32 PDT). <strong>The most brilliant part of the show, when the moon reaches totality and takes on a blood-red hue, will last from 6:27 EDT (3:27 PDT) to 7:22 EDT (4:22 PDT).</strong></p>
<p>The charts below, taken from <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2014-october-8">timeanddate.com</a>, will show you the phases of the eclipse as viewers will see it in different part of the country and the world. You can also use this <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/">Eclipse Calculator </a>to determine the exact time the eclipse will begin in the city nearest you.</p>
<p>If your city is cloudy or you don't have a good way to watch the horizon, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/weds-oct-8-lunar-eclipse-livestream-slooh-2014-10">check out the Slooh livestream of the event</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Schedule for New York:</strong></p>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="timeanddate.com" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54342f026da8115d4d8b4567-960/screen shot 2014-10-07 at 2.18.55 pm.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/new-york?iso=20141008">timeanddate.com</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Schedule for Chicago:</strong></p>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="timeanddate.com" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54342f4769bedda058e562e6-960/screen shot 2014-10-07 at 2.21.27 pm.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/chicago?iso=20141008">timeanddate.com</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Schedule for San Francisco:</strong></p>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="timeanddate.com" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54342f996bb3f7504cb602c1-960/screen shot 2014-10-07 at 2.22.55 pm.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/san-francisco?iso=20141008">timeanddate.com</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Schedule for Honolulu, Hawaii:</strong></p>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="timeanddate.com" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54342ffdeab8ea5a28b602c3-960/screen shot 2014-10-07 at 2.24.28 pm.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/honolulu?iso=20141008">timeanddate.com</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Schedule for Tokyo, Japan:</strong></p>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="timeanddate.com" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5434317069bedd6667e562ea-960/screen shot 2014-10-07 at 2.30.40 pm.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/japan/tokyo?iso=20141008">timeanddate.com</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Schedule for Brisbane, Queensland, Australia:</strong></p>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="timeanddate.com" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5434313169beddab63e562ee-960/screen shot 2014-10-07 at 2.29.14 pm.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/australia/brisbane?iso=20141008">timeanddate.com</a></span></p></div><p></p></div>The full list of cities and schedules are on <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2014-october-8">Time and Date's website</a>.</strong></p>

Here's What Time To Look For Wednesday's 'Blood Moon' Eclipse

<p><strong><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:620px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/32920110@N07/6906756318/">KariHak/flickr</a></p></div></strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you glance up in the sky on Thursday, keep and eye out for the pink <keyword id="42440" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moon">moon</keyword>.</p>
<p>Named for the brilliant pink phlox that once signaled the arrival of Spring, the moon will be at its fullest at 3:57 p.m. EDT April 25.</p>
<p><strong>First of all: No, it's not pink</strong></p>
<p>The spoiler is, Pink Moons are not really pink. It is simply the name for full moon that happens during the month of April — similar to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-february-snow-moon-2013-2">February's snow moon</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/04/23/Pink-full-moon-Thursday-wont-actually-look-pink/4481366730822/">UPI.com reports</a> that the moon might actually be slightly pink this year because of the lunar <keyword id="45623" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="eclipse">eclipse</keyword> that's set to happen in the afternoon.</p>
<p><strong>So, why the name?</strong></p>
<p>The "pink moon" name is part of a naming tradition traceable to Native American tribes. Full moons during different times of the year signaled changes in the seasons and other important dates (<a href="http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/">Farmer's Almanac offers a handy breakdown</a>).</p>
<p>Full Corn moon meant it was time to pick corn, Full Buck Moon shone at around the time of year deer bucks were sprouting antlers, and Full Sturgeon Moon probably coincided with sturgeon-fishing season.</p>
<p>Pink moon is so named because it occurred at around the time the plant wild ground phlox begins to blossom. Indigenous Americans took this as a sign that Spring had arrived.</p>
<p><strong>But there will be a lunar eclipse, right?</strong></p>
<p>Eh, sort of.</p>
<p>Some say that the Pink Moon may be especially worth stealing a glance this year, owing to the fact that it will coincide with a partial lunar eclipse. Those who live in Europe, parts of Asia or Africa will see the eclipse, <a href="http://www.space.com/20768-april-full-moon-lunar-eclipse.html">says Space.com's Joe Rao</a>. North Americans, though are out of luck.</p>
<p>It is only a partial eclipse — people in Europe will see notice only a slight dark spot on the edge of the moon. You can watch the eclipse live stream at the <a href="http://events.slooh.com/">Slooh Space Camera website</a>.</p>

Keep An Eye Out For Thursday's 'Pink Moon'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA officials said the next attempt to launch <strong>Artemis I</strong> will be September 27, at the earliest.</li><li>The second launch attempt for NASA's Space Launch System rocket was delayed due to a liquid hydrogen leak.</li></ul><p>NASA is targeting September 27 as the next launch attempt for its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-how-nasa-built-sls-mega-rocket-artemis-moon-missions-2022-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Artemis I moon rocket,</a> with October 2 as a potential backup date, <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2022/09/12/nasa-adjusts-dates-for-artemis-i-cryogenic-demonstration-test-and-launch-progress-at-pad-continues/">NASA said</a> Monday.</p><p>That's if engineers are able to fix the hydrogen leak that halted the last launch attempt on September 3, and if the rocket is allowed to stay on the launch pad without another rollback to Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building.</p><p>On Friday, the Artemis I team wrapped up hydrogen leak repairs on Launchpad 39-B in Florida's Kennedy Space Center. NASA plans to conduct fueling tests on September 21 to make sure the source of the fuel leak was removed and the crew is prepared for the next launch attempt.</p><p>On September 27, a 70-minute launch window is slated to open at 11:37 a.m. ET. The rocket should splash back on Earth on November 5. The October 2 backup launch date, which has a 109-minute launch window starting at 2:52 p.m. ET, is "under review," according to NASA. If the rocket launches on October 2, it should land back on Earth on November 11.</p><p>The space agency also reached out to officials from the US Space Force's Eastern Range — who review and approve all missions that lift off from the Cape Canaveral region — to extend a battery retest requirement on the moon rocket's flight termination system.</p><div type="image" title="The countdown clock is stopped after NASA scrubbed the launch of the Artemis I rocket from launch pad 39-B at Kennedy Space Center on September 03, 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida." height="2044" width="3000" msid="93975956" hostid="261"></div><h1>Hydrogen fuel woes interrupted the second launch attempt</h1><p>The new launch dates come after the launch of the Space Launch System and its uncrewed Orion capsule was called off for a second time on Saturday, September 3. At 7:15 a.m. ET, a leak occurred as engineers increased the pressure on the flow of liquid hydrogen into the core stage.</p><p>"Teams encountered a liquid hydrogen leak while loading the propellant into the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket," NASA said in a <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">blog post</a>. "Multiple troubleshooting efforts to address the area of the leak by reseating a seal in the quick disconnect where liquid hydrogen is fed into the rocket did not fix the issue."</p><p>After attempts to troubleshoot were unsuccessful, Artemis' launch director called off the launch.</p><p>It was the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mega-rocket-encounters-engine-issue-launch-delayed-until-friday-2022-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">second scrub</a> — NASA's term for calling off a launch on a specific day — for the mega moon rocket. During NASA's first launch attempt on August 29, sensors suggested one of the rocket's four core stage RS-25 engines wasn't cooling down to a safe temperature in time for launch.</p><p>"We don't have the launch that we wanted today. I can tell you these teams know exactly what they're doing and I'm very proud of them," Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, said on September 3. "Just remember we're not going to launch until it's right."</p><div type="image" title="NASA officials hold a press conference after the launch of the Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket was postponed" height="2595" width="3900" msid="93975957" hostid="261"></div><h1><strong>1 in 3 chance of a scrub on any given day</strong></h1><p>In August, NASA engineers tested the rocket's flight termination system, which began a 20-day timeline for launching. If the launch is delayed beyond those 20 days, engineers will have to roll back the rocket for additional testing, Jeremy Parsons, deputy manager of NASA's Exploration Ground Systems, said at a Friday press briefing.</p><p>NASA engineers also contend with weather, a common cause of launch delays. The forecast prior to Saturday's attempt showed 60% favorable weather conditions at the beginning of the launch window. "On any given day, there's about a one in three chance that we will scrub for any reason," Melody Levin, a meteorologist at NASA, said at a briefing on Friday, September 2. "Out of those chances of scrubbing, there's a 50% chance that it's due to weather," Levin said.</p><div type="image" title="dozens of people standing in grass sitting in lawn chairs watch upright rocket roll out of tall building at night" height="1667" width="2500" msid="93974107" hostid="261"></div><p>Additionally, when scheduling a launch attempt, NASA must ensure the Orion capsule doesn't go into an eclipse, or the shadow of the moon, for too long, because it depends on solar power.</p><p>More than <a href="https://talkoftitusville.com/2022/09/01/400000-visitors-expected-on-space-coast-for-artemis-i-launch-labor-day-weekend/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">400,000 visitors</a> were expected to gather near NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday to view the inaugural launch, according to the Space Coast's tourism office.</p><div type="image" title="NASA's Artemis I rocket sits on launch pad 39-B at Kennedy Space Center on September 03, 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida." height="3121" width="4682" msid="93974109" hostid="261"></div><p>NASA has spent 17 years and an estimated $50 billion developing the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-space-launch-system-photos-moon-mega-rocket-2022-8">SLS</a> rocket and its Orion spaceship, according to <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/cost-of-sls-and-orion">The Planetary Society</a>.</p><p>During the Artemis I mission, NASA aims to fly the Orion crew capsule all the way around the moon — farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown — before heading back for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.</p><p>There won't be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasas-artemis-1-rocket-sending-quirky-cargo-moon-and-back-2022-8">people on board</a> during the Artemis I launch. But if the spaceship successfully completes its mission, NASA plans to put astronauts in the Orion module for another trip around the moon, during the Artemis II mission. It's all in preparation for Artemis III, in which NASA hopes to land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface in 2025. </p><p><em>This story has been updated with new information. It was originally published on September 3, 2022.</em></p>

NASA says it will try to launch its massive moon rocket again in late September

<br /><ul><li>This year’s Holi will kick off with the second-closest supermoon of the year gracing the skies tonight, March 9.<br /></li><li>Holi’s <em>phalgun purmina</em> is always a full moon, but a supermoon is a rare occurrence.<br /></li><li>Tonight’s supermoon is also the first of three consecutive supermoons set to appear in 2020.<br /></li></ul>This year’s Holi may be bogged down amid fears of Coronavirus but the night sky is going to be just a little bit brighter. The second-closest supermoon of the year is set to rise tonight, March 9, kicking off the festival of colours in India.<br /><br />Every year, Holi comes on a different date because it’s dictated by the Hindu lunar calendar and must coincide with the final full moon of the year — the <em><keyword id="8887297" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="phalgun-purnima">phalgun purnima</keyword>.</em> However, every March full moon isn’t a supermoon.<br /><br /><div type="image" title="supermoon-640x350_edited" msid="74548171" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;A supermoon is 30% brighter and 14% larger than the conventional full moon&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>

<br />Supermoons only occur when a full moon coincides with the Moon’s closest approach to the planet. In 2020, the March 9 full moon will be the second-closest of the year. It’s also the first of the three consecutive supermoons set to appear in 2020.<br /><br /><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Date of supermoon<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Distance from Earth<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">March 9 2020<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">357,404 km<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">April 8 2020<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">357,035 km<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">May 7 2020<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">361,184 km<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><em>Source: TimeandDate.com</em><br /><br />According to historians, Holi — then referred to as Holika — was a religious ritual where married women gather around a bonfire to pray to the Moon god Raka for the good health of their families.<br /><br /><strong>A brighter Holi<br /></strong>Even though the difference is difficult to perceive with the naked eye, supermoons are a little brighter and closer than a conventional full moon.<br /><br />The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is elliptical — not a perfect circle. This means that at certain points, the Moon is closer to the planet than at other points of its orbit. On average, the Moon is around 382,900 kilometres from Earth. However, at its closest, the perigee, it’s 21,000 kilometres closer.<br /><br />The Moon’s closest approach, within 90% of the perigee, combined with a full moon results in a supermoon. But, there are only a few supermoons in a year if at all. The closest supermoon in recorded history occurred in November 2016. However, an even closer supermoon is set to rise in the 2030s.<br /><br />With a supermoon coming in for the <em><keyword id="7441210" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="holi-purnima">holi purnima</keyword></em>, the skies are going to be 30% brighter with the Moon appearing 14% larger.<br /><br /><strong>See also:<br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/lunar-eclipse-super-moon-2020-what-is-super-moon/articleshow/73148366.cms">Lunar eclipse on January 10 won't be a Super Moon — Here's why</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tonights-super-snow-moon-will-be-the-biggest-and-brightest-full-moon-of-2019-heres-why-/articleshow/68071166.cms">Tonight's 'super snow moon' will be the biggest and brightest full moon of 2019. Here's why.</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/lunar-eclipses-of-2020-what-is-an-eclipse/articleshow/73115231.cms">There will be four lunar eclipses in 2020 - starting this week</a><br />

Holi 2020 will be witness to the second-closest supermoon of the year

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/asteroid-impacts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Asteroid impacts</a> on Earth are hidden by erosion, but the moon keeps a pristine record of them.</li><li>Researchers dated 111 larger craters on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/moon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moon</a> to reconstruct Earth's impact history over the past 1 billion years.</li><li>The team discovered that larger asteroid strikes were 2.6 times more common in the latter 300 million years of that time period.</li><li>An <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/animation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">animation</a> illustrates the impact data with light and sound.</li></ul><p>The moon has been hiding a big secret about Earth in plain sight.</p><p>Evidence of ancient asteroid strikes is difficult to find on our planet. In fact, <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/erosion-has-erased-most-earth-impact-craters-here-are-survivors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fewer than 200 craters</a> are known to <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>. The commonly understood reason for this has been that Earth quickly erodes, buries, and otherwise hides even major impact sites.</p><p>The moon, however, acts like a time capsule because it has no air, water, or active geology, so its craters don't vanish. And it happens to be right next door to our planet, which means that whatever happened to the moon reflects what also happened to Earth.</p><p>So a <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aar4058" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new study</a> published this week in the journal Science took a close look at the biggest lunar craters. By counting and dating such impact sites, the researchers suggest, an approximate history of asteroid strikes on Earth can be reconstructed.</p><p>"The moon is like a time capsule, helping us understand the Earth," <a href="http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~bottke/Reprints/Reprints.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">William Bottke</a>, a space scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, said in <a href="https://www.swri.org/press-release/swri-moon-craters-compare-earth-impact-history-lro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a press release</a> about the new research. "We found that the moon shared a similar bombardment history, which meant the answer to Earth's impact rate was staring everyone right in the face."</p><h2>Erasing early assumptions about Earth's impact history</h2><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>The team of researchers behind the work studied highly detailed images of the moon and thermal data recorded by NASA's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-far-side-moon-landing-change4-site-map-2019-1">Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter</a> (LRO) to deduce the ages of the largest craters. When their analysis was complete, they had 111 major impact sites dated across about 1 billion years.</p><p>The team's findings suggested that the moon has fewer craters left by big strikes during the oldest 700 million years of that time period, whereas big strikes were about 260% more frequent in the latter third.</p><p>This led the researchers to conclude that wind and water on Earth probably didn't hide as many major impact sites as scientists previously thought.</p><p>"Earth has fewer older craters on stable terrains not because of erosion, but because the impact rate was lower prior to 290 million years ago," Bottke said in the release.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-sizes-that-can-damage-cities-states-planet-2018-6">How large asteroids must be to destroy a city, state, country, or the planet</a></em></p><p>Bottke and his colleagues did not suggest that their discoveries mean we should worry about any huge asteroid strikes coming soon. Rather, the uptick may have been a temporary surge driven by "the breakup of one or more large asteroids in the inner and/or central main asteroid belt," they wrote.</p><p>The work should prove helpful to researchers who are trying to understand the Earth's history and its complex relationship with life.</p><p>"Our findings also have implications for the history of life, which is punctuated by extinction events and rapid evolution of new species," Bottke said. "Though the forces driving these events are complicated, asteroid impacts have surely played a role in this ongoing saga."</p><h2>Watch the past 1 billion years of major lunar asteroid strikes</h2><p>The researchers at Southwest Research Institute gave 1.3 billion years' worth of lunar impact data to animators at <a href="http://www.system-sounds.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">System Sounds</a>, who compressed that history into two roughly one-minute movies (<a href="https://youtu.be/C0XQGaBJz7k" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of which</a> is not shown here).</p><p>The animation above illustrates 111 of the moon's larger impact craters as sound and color, and in the order that they occurred. Smaller craters are represented by higher-pitched and quieter sounds, while the biggest are louder and lower-pitched.</p><p>In the last third of the video, you'll notice that there's an uptick in lower and louder sounds.</p><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lunar-eclipse-why-moon-is-blood-red-2018-7">Why the moon turns red during a total lunar eclipse</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Watch the moon get pounded by 1 billion years' worth of big asteroids in a 1-minute animation

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Dbachmann via Wikimedia" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5462974cecad049547dc66dc-960/nebra_scheibe.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebra_sky_disk#mediaviewer/File:Nebra_Scheibe.jpg">Dbachmann via Wikimedia</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The design on this disc might look like a six-year-old's scribbles, but in reality, it's one of the most sophisticated and influential artifacts of the Bronze Age.</p>
<p>And it might never have been discovered if not for a couple of illegal treasure hunters who dug it up and sold it on the black market.</p>
<p>Called the Nebra sky disc, named for the town where it was found in 1999, the artifact has been dated back to 1600 BC. It's thought to have been forged during the European Bronze Age, a period between 3200 and 600 BC.</p>
<p>The disc's discovery stunned archaeologists, who thought of the Bronze Age as brutal, uncivilized times of killing and little else - most artifacts we've found are swords and other weapons designed for battle.</p>
<p>The disc is about one foot across and weighs nearly five pounds. When it was first crafted, it would have shone a brilliant golden brown because the disc itself is made from bronze. But over time, the bronze corroded to green.</p>
<p>The symbols are made of gold and didn't corrode. Although experts do not agree on what each symbol represents, for example the full circle could be the sun, full moon, or some type of eclipse, the overall message is clear that the symbols represent celestial objects.</p>
<p>This disc meant that the people of the Bronze Age were not an uncivilized culture that only crafted weapons for killing. Instead, the people who lived at this time had an intellectual understanding of the sky.</p>
<h3>Police-Led Sting For The Find Of The Century</h3>
<p>For millennia, the disc was buried in the Seigelroda Forest in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt near a town called Nebra. But in 1999, two men, Henry Westphal and Mario Renner, were hunting for buried treasure in the forest when their metal detectors led them to an underground stash. They uncovered two bronze swords, two hatchets, a chisel, fragments of bracelets, and the beautifully decorated disc.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="4tuneQkie on Flickr" title_caption="Mock representation of the sky disc and the hoard of other artifacts it was found with." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54bfd93a6da8113a47b83994-960/13670279903_90124c9329_o.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceholix/13670279903/in/photolist-mPZKX6-n1jykT-mPZRei-n1m82x-n1mkDf-mQ1abk-mPZVCF-mPZP22-mQ1pPP-n1m9mB-mQ1iez-mQ1gxP-mPZRRR-mQ1kdp-mPZPDe-mPZwpg-n1jCGr-mPZX3c-n1mfoK-mQ2kvY-mQ1o8T-mQ1bB6-mPZNd8-n1meWc-n1jFDi-mPZA6K-mYtkVV-nfKhJe-nihbav-nmm99u-njA5bY-nmm84o-nmYzQh-pQbJve-nn4qhi-pPWYgz-pQbHZ4-nng1BH-pxMBny-nmma6E-nmm9Lw-pxG69B-nhNroT-nmm9Yz-nih8pa-nihdW2-oyW4pt-nhNvMT-nfLhGQ-pxG6De">4tuneQkie on Flickr</a></span></p><p class="caption">Mock representation of the sky disc and the hoard of other artifacts it was found with.</p></div><p></p></div></div>According to state law in Saxony-Anhalt, all archaeological artifacts are the property of the state. Westphal and Renner had no license to dig for artifacts of any kind, and no legal right to the collection. But that didn't stop them from selling everything they found on the black market.</p>
<p>Over the next few years the entire collection became a well-known commodity and was traded multiple times on the black market selling for up to one million Deutsch Mark (roughly $590,000). Then, in 2002, archaeologist Herald Meller arranged a meeting with the current holders to purchase the disc, alone, for 700,000 DM ($350,000). But the meeting was not what it seemed.</p>
<p>Meller was collaborating with the state police to recover the priceless artifacts, and within seconds of the dealers' reveal of the disc, the police swooped in and arrested them. Eventually, the disc was traced back to Westphal and Renner who were sentenced to jail time.</p>
<h2>Spotting A Fake</h2>
<p>Archeologist's were stunned when they finally got a good, close look at the artifact. The Nebra sky disc was unlike any other artifact of its time. Some archaeologists thought the disc was too incredible to be real.</p>
<p>"When I first heard about the Nebra Disc I thought it was a joke, indeed I thought it was a forgery," Richard Harrison told the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndhw7aX_ME8">BBC in a documentary of the disc</a>. Harrison is a professor of European prehistory at the University of Bristol and expert on the culture that inhabited Germany during the Bronze Age. "Because it's such an extraordinary piece that it wouldn't surprise any of us that a clever forger had cooked this up in a backroom and sold it for a lot of money."</p>
<p> </p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>The disc was sent to the laboratory of Heinrich Wunderlich at the Museum of Halle in Eastern Germany. Heinrich specializes in dating artifacts from the Bronze age. If the disc was a fake, he could easily find out by studying the greenish bronze covering the disc.</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_disease">Bronze disease</a> is the corrosive process that occurs when chloride molecules, such as chloride salts in soil, interact with bronze (or other copper-based materials). The result is a chemical reaction producing microscopic crystals that look either white or green. Over time, these crystals grow larger, which means that Wunderlich could easily spot a forgery by looking at the size of the crystals.</p>
<p>When he looked under the microscope, he saw large crystals, which resembled large bubbles, shown in the image below, that spoke to the disc's authenticity. It was no fake.</p>
<p>"When I saw down the microscope, I saw structure which was like bubbles," Wunderlich told BBC. "This can not be made artificially. You can't fake time."</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="BBC" title_caption="Crystals of Bronze disease on the Nebra sky disc." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54bfda366bb3f7237d01c452-960/screen shot 2015-01-21 at 11.55.09 am.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAyUpT9nhLQ">BBC</a></span></p><p class="caption">Crystals of Bronze disease on the Nebra sky disc.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<h2>Secrets Of The Nebra Sky disc</h2>
<p>Scientists have dated the disc to the time it was buried underground, but <a href="http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-technology/secrets-nebra-sky-disc-001526">they don't know</a> exactly when it was made. It was buried about 3,600 years ago but could be much older.</p>
<p>In addition to its age, the precise meaning of the disc eludes explanation. But an expert in Bronze Age religions, Miranda Aldhouse Green, at Cardiff University in the UK, has put together a general picture of what it might have meant for the people who used it thousands of years ago.</p>
<p>Below is a labeled version of the disc, but you'll have to translate some of the words since they're in German.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Gerhard Singer on Flickr" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54bfe6726bb3f7e82b01c456-960/95689315_beada1908f_o.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gerhard3/95689315/in/photolist-9sr6M-8pYJm5-9HYvW8-8pYJto-5wSTM4-8SBzfG-nfKrGf-nfKftT-nfKg1f-mYtntB-mQ1d2v-pNEqjr-pLNDSj-oS1Jhd-mPZHpc-mQ2rNY-mQ2BD9-6iehv5-n1nTtA-mY1Ebr-nkihk5-nfKvef-nfKYBS-nf7sFJ-nhabUX-nfKuce-nfKqQ5-nfKYdL-mPZLUi-n1nSVm-mPZxdF-mQ1fbv-mPZKX6-n1jykT-mPZRei-n1m82x-n1mkDf-mQ1abk-mPZVCF-mPZP22-mQ1pPP-n1m9mB-mQ1iez-mQ1gxP-mPZRRR-mQ1kdp-mPZPDe-mPZwpg-n1jCGr-mPZX3c">Gerhard Singer on Flickr</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>There are six objects of importance depicted on the disc:</p>
<ul>
<li>Sun (or full Moon or a type of solar or lunar eclipse)</li>
<li>Crescent Moon</li>
<li>Sun Boat</li>
<li>Pleiades Constellation</li>
<li>Left arc</li>
<li>Right arc</li>
</ul>
<p>It makes sense that the full circle slightly left of center would be the sun, Green said in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndhw7aX_ME8">BBC documentary</a>, "The sun is absolutely central to northern European Bronze Age religion. There's a clear connection between the sun and life. If the sun disappears then life comes to an end."</p>
<p>And the crescent shape is likely a crescent moon. In ancient times, the moon was used to represent time, and, "if you can control time, and if you understand time, then you are a powerful, a powerful human being," <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2004/stardisctrans.shtml">Green said</a>.</p>
<p>Then there's the smiley-shaped band beneath the sun and moon, which Green suspects is the sun boat - an ancient holy symbol. Bronze Age Europeans believed that the sun traveled on a sun boat when it set at night.</p>
<p>The smaller circles speckled across the disc seem to represent stars. In particular, the concentrated clump between the sun and moon are thought to be the Pleiades constellation, which was an imporant constellation for Bronze Age farmers because it first appeared in March and disappeared in October - important farming times.</p>
<p>"We know from Greek writers that the Pleiades were used as an agricultural marker, so that farmers knew when they should do certain agricultural activities," Green said. "So what the Nebra disc does is to tell people not only the right time to [plant and harvest] but it is the blessed time to do it."</p>
<p>The left and right arcs on either side of the disc have an additional agricultural importance and were crucial in helping scientists determine that the disc was European-made.</p>
<h2>The Dawn Of European Civilization</h2>
<p>After analyzing these fairly simple explanations, archaeologists around the world started asking other questions: What did the arcs represent? Was the disc actually an artifact forged by Bronze Age Europeans? Or was it from another culture and managed to make its way into Germany by some unknown means?</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Linie M - Metall Form Farbe on Flickr" title_caption="This highly polished stainless steel plate Marks the reference of Nebra sky disc." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54bfe9c4ecad0405050e0b75-960/4865845508_f3bcdd0135_o.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/linie-m_metall-form-farbe/4865845508/in/photolist-8pYJm5-9HYvW8-8pYJto-5wSTM4-8SBzfG-nfKrGf-nfKftT-nfKg1f-mYtntB-mQ1d2v-pNEqjr-pLNDSj-oS1Jhd-mPZHpc-mQ2rNY-mQ2BD9-6iehv5-n1nTtA-mY1Ebr-nkihk5-nfKvef-nfKYBS-nf7sFJ-nhabUX-nfKuce-nfKqQ5-nfKYdL-mPZLUi-n1nSVm-mPZxdF-mQ1fbv-mPZKX6-n1jykT-mPZRei-n1m82x-n1mkDf-mQ1abk-mPZVCF-mPZP22-mQ1pPP-n1m9mB-mQ1iez-mQ1gxP-mPZRRR-mQ1kdp-mPZPDe-mPZwpg-n1jCGr-mPZX3c-n1mfoK">Linie M - Metall Form Farbe on Flickr</a></span></p><p class="caption">This highly polished stainless steel plate Marks the reference of Nebra sky disc.</p></div><p></p></div></div>It was astronomer Wolfhard Schlosser, at the University of Hamburg, who made the connection. He found that if you draw a line from the center of the disc to the top and bottom end of the right arc, the angle between the two ends measures exactly 82 degrees. And it's the same value for the left golden arc.</p>
<p>This number is very important for only a small group of people who live at the same latitude as the current German town of Nebra. That's because it's the angle between where the sun sets on the horizon in mid-winter and mid-summer.</p>
<p>"The angle between both is precisely eighty two degrees," Schlosser told BBC. "This angle responds to the journey of the sun between summer and winter for this specific latitude right here in Nebra."</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Although Schlosser's find offered compelling evidence that the disc was crafted in Europe, the only way to determine beyond any doubt was to discover where the metals came from.</p>
<p>Archaeologist Ernst Pernicka further investigated the copper within the bronze. Copper has a unique fingerprint that Pernicka used to compare copper in Bronze Age mines versus Mediterranean metals. From this, he traced the disc's metal to a European mine, confirming that the disc was manufactured from European metal and was not a gift crafted by another culture.</p>
<p>After millennia under ground and years on the black market, the disc today is safe and on public display at the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle, Germany.</p>
<p>In 2013, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization inducted the disc into their <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/flagship-project-activities/memory-of-the-world/register/full-list-of-registered-heritage/registered-heritage-page-6/nebra-sky-disc/">Memory of the World Register</a> stating:</p>
<p>The bronze disc is considered to be one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20<sup>th</sup> Century. It combines an extraordinary comprehension of astronomical phenomena with the religious beliefs of its period, that enable unique glimpses into the early knowledge of the heavens.</p>

You Searched For "lunar eclipse date" and got 6 results

Here's What Time To Look For Wednesday's 'Blood Moon' Eclipse

Jessica Orwig

Keep An Eye Out For Thursday's 'Pink Moon'

Robert Ferris

NASA says it will try to launch its massive moon rocket again in late September

Paola Rosa-Aquino

Holi 2020 will be witness to the second-closest supermoon of the year

Prabhjote Gill

Watch the moon get pounded by 1 billion years' worth of big asteroids in a 1-minute animation

Dave Mosher

The Incredible Discovery Of The Oldest Depiction Of The Universe Was Almost Lost To The Black Market

Jessica Orwig