Santa Monica Studio’s highly anticipated sequel to God of War 2018 is set to hit shelves later this week on November 9th. A combination of rave reviews and a sometimes hilarious marketing campaign has kept PlayStation owners in suspense, and now it looks like the arrival of Ragnarök will benefit from a completely unlikely source of hype – that of celestial mechanics. As spotted by Twitter user @EmManuDoll and retweeted in an emoji post from the official Santa Monica Studio account, a lunar eclipse is set to take place on November 8th – the night before the release of God of War Ragnarök. God of War Ragnarok Preview Considering that the upcoming sequel concerns the events surrounding the Norse mythological end of days – one of the harbingers of which is the Darkness of the Sun and Moon – this seems almost too perfect to be a coincidence. In the events leading up to Ragnarök, some versions of Norse mythology claim that the giant wolves Skoll and Hati would hunt down the Sun and Moon and consume them. We know for a fact that this particular element of mythology will be a major part of the game, as it actually appears in the launch trailer. Of course, the real reason for the Moon turning red on November 8 has nothing to do with gods and monsters, but rather a total lunar eclipse, which occurs when our planet passes between the Moon and the Sun, blocking its light. 🤔🤔🤔 https://t.co/dj8bWU4HT9 — Santa Monica Studio – God of War Ragnarök (@SonySantaMonica) November 5, 2022 As the Moon passes fully into Earth’s shadow – also known as its umbra – it takes on a bloody hue. This is due to a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering, where light from our star is refracted and scattered as it passes through our planet’s dense atmosphere. In particular, blue light, which exists at a shorter wavelength than other forms of light, is easily scattered, while red light’s longer wavelength allows it to pass more easily through the atmosphere. This is why sunrises and sunsets appear red to our human eyes, and during a lunar eclipse the path of some of that light is bent inward, causing it to shine on the otherwise shadowed Moon, turning it red. If you somehow happened to be standing on the surface of the Moon facing Earth right now, our planet would appear as a black expanse surrounded by a bright red sunrise and sunset glow. A November 2021 near-total eclipse captured over New Orleans (Credit: NASA/Michoud Assembly Facility) It’s a rare opportunity to observe the complex celestial mechanics of our solar system in action, and once it’s over, astrologers will have to wait until the end of 2025 for a chance to see another total lunar eclipse. The eclipse will be visible in North America on the night of November 8 starting at 3:09 am. CST, with totality occurring nearly an hour later at 4:16 a.m. The cosmic coincidence will also be visible across the Pacific, Australia and eastern Asia , so be sure to take some time to look up and enjoy the view if you happen to be awake in the early hours. In the meantime, check out our God of War Ragnarök performance analysis to see how the apocalyptic sequel plays on your hardware of choice, and for a more in-depth analysis of the game, head over to IGN’s full review. Anthony is a freelance contributor who covers science news and video games for IGN. He has over eight years of experience covering important developments in multiple scientific fields and has no time for your bullshit. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
