People living in north Georgia will have a chance to see the longest-lasting partial lunar eclipse in 581 years on Friday morning. The only problem is you’ll have to get up early – very early!
A lunar eclipse happens when the moon passes through the earth’s shadow. Lunar eclipses are fairly common, happening about twice a year on average. What makes this one special, even though it’s not a total lunar eclipse, is how long it will last. The last time a partial lunar eclipse lasted this long was in 1440!
The moon is at apogee, which means that it is at its farthest point from earth. Rather than a Supermoon, this month’s full moon on Friday is a “Micromoon” It will appear slightly smaller in the sky because of its distance from earth. This means that the moon will be moving a bit slower in its orbit and spend a longer time partially covered by the earth’s shadow than in a “normal” eclipse.
We said the eclipse begins early, and we meant it. The partial eclipse begins at 2:18 am EST, the maximum (97%) eclipse is at 4:02 am, and the partial eclipse ends at 5:47 am. Set an alarm!
The weather looks mainly clear over north Georgia, with the only possible issue being partly cloudy skies from Atlanta to the south.
If waking up in the middle of the night is not for you, the next lunar eclipse visual over north Georgia is a total eclipse and it’s less than six months away in mid-May. It peaks late in the evening. It will not last as long as this partial eclipse, and it will be a while before another partial eclipse lasts as long as Friday’s. The next one that will be longer does not happen until 2669!
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