The longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century will appear in the skies on July 27. As skywatchers will see the total phase of the blood moon eclipse doomsday believers think the day will mark the end of the world. The eclipse will last for one hour and 43 minutes and the moon will appear in a red or ruddy-brown colour. Blood Moon occurs when sunlight gets scattered throughout the Earth’s atmosphere resulting in a stunning sight.

At multiple times in the past during various celestial events, the doomsday theory has popped up stating it could possibly end life on Earth. It often makes references to different verses from the Bible.

Express.co.uk reported that Christian ministers John Hagee and Mark Biltz had "claimed to have found references of Blood Moon Tetrad in the Bible in 2014. A tetrad is referred to four consecutive lunar eclipses which happened in April 2014, October 2014, April 2015 and September 2015. They claimed that as per the tetrad would mark the end of the world, however, were proved wrong. Now, with Blue Moon around the corner, the theory has once again picked up momentum.

The doomsday theory refers to the Book of Joel, which states: "The sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes." The Book of Revelations also says that the moon will turn red and sun into darkness. It reads, "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood."

However, the doomsday theory turned bluff every time. Scientists, astronomers and experts have also dismissed the theory. People within the scientific community also refer to the Blood Moon prophecy as a myth.

They quoted Geoffrey Gaherty, a writer for Starry Night Education as saying, "As an ardent skywatcher who derives much pleasure from beautiful events like lunar eclipses, it saddens me that there are 'prophets of doom' in the world who view these life-enriching events as portents of disaster."

According to lunar scientist Noah Petro, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the eclipse can be seen in Africa, the Middle East, southern Asia and the Indian Ocean region with clear weather. It won't be visible to viewers in North America.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2018 11:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).