My 10-year-old son is named Hunter. I named him Hunter for two reasons:

1. His real name is Ryan Hunter, named after the constellation Orion, the Hunter, my favorite sparkly giant.
2. He was scheduled to be born during a Hunter's moon in 1994.

So what is a Hunter's moon, you ask? It is the next full moon after the Harvest moon, which occurs in September, after the autumnal equinox. In folklore, the Hunter's Moon is often known as the Blood Moon, but not because the eclipse this year will turn it blood red. Instead, it was called a Hunter's Moon and Blood Moon because hunters could hunt by the light of the moon, tracking animals to store for the coming winter months when food would be scarce.

Hunter was born on September 26, closer to the Harvest Moon ... but I really didn't feel the name Harvest would be fitting for a boy. So, we stuck with Hunter.

On October 27, Wednesday, this Hunter's moon will literally turn blood red when it eclipses for the fourth time since May 2003. Be sure to go out and peek at the sky, because this won't happen again until March, 2007. This will be the fourth lunar eclipse, suceeding three other ones taking place six months apart. This type of four-lunar cycle is called a tetrad.

Many web sites have information on this event, including the following:

• Space.com - Coming Oct. 27: Total Lunar Eclipse
  Information about the eclipse and instructions for watching it.
• Nasa - Lunar Eclipse
  More info on eclipses and this eclipse of the Blood Moon or Hunter's Moon/
• Nasa Eclipse Home Page
  Information about all types of eclipses including schedules.
• Lunar Eclipses for Beginners
  What is an eclipse of the Moon? What causes eclipses and why? How often do eclipses happen and when is the next eclipse of the Moon? You'll learn the answers to these questions and more in MrEclipse's primer on lunar eclipses.
• What Causes an Eclipse?
  A description of the causes of solar and lunar eclipses.

Another celestial event occurring in October is the Orionid Meteor Shower peak, occurring on October 20 at 11:00 p.m. EDT. My friend Orion will be rising in the east, while the moon will be setting. If you look closely, you should be able to see about 15-20 meteors per hour from moonset until dawn, left of Orion, near the feet of Gemini.