A Total Lunar Eclipse will be visible over Georgia the morning of January 31, 2018. A total lunar eclipse can only happen at full Moon when the Moon, Earth, and Sun are exactly lined up. The Earth gets in the way and blocks the light from the Sun. Although this alignment can happen every full Moon, but usually the Earth’s shadow just misses the Moon. The Sun will set that night (January 30) at 6:06 pm EST and the Moon will rise at 5:23 pm EST. The Moon will enter the inner shadow (umbra), the following morning, at 6:48 am EST. At this point, the Moon will be low in the west. It will look like the cookie monster has taken a bite out of the Moon as the Moon travels deeper into the Earths’ shadow. Note the shape of the shadow, it is round. This is a consequence of living on a round planet. In Georgia, we will miss most of the eclipse since it sets only about an hour after the eclipse begins. The Moon will set at 7:37 am EST. Sunrise that morning will be at 7:35 am EST. At 7:51 am EDT the Moon will be totally eclipsed. But the Moon will not be black. Some of the blocked sunlight bends or refracts around the Earth, because of our atmosphere. The longer wavelengths of light (The red light) bend or refract the best. So the Moon at mid-eclipse will turn a deep red color. What shade of red, varies by the amount of dust and clouds around the Earth that night. The total eclipse will end as the Moon exits the Earth’s shadow at 9:08 am. At 10:11 am, Monday morning the eclipse will be over.
If you want to observe the entire eclipse you will have to be in China, Eastern Russia, Australia, most of the Pacific Ocean, or Alaska.
The Tellus Science Museum, & Observatory (Weather permitting) will NOT be open for this event.
We will not have another Total Lunar Eclipse visible over Georgia until January of 2019.