It has become popular in Christian circles to postulate that the Crucifixion occurred on April 3, AD 33. Often important in this conclusion is that there was a lunar eclipse that evening, with the assumption that the Apostle Peter's quoting of Joel 2 at Pentecost about the moon being turned to blood is a reference to that eclipse. However, there is considerable doubt that this interpretation is correct, because this eclipse was far from total, and the moon rose over Jerusalem after maximum eclipse. The eye cannot observe the color of a partially eclipsed moon, so this eclipse could not fit the description of a "blood moon." Assuming that Peter's statement about the moon being turned to blood was a reference to some event at the time of the Crucifixion, it is far more plausible that unusual atmospheric conditions at that time were responsible.