ASTRONOMY: 'Blood Moon' Total Lunar Eclipse Occurs on March 3rd

Skywatchers will delight on Tuesday, March 3rd, when a 'Blood Moon' total lunar eclipse will occur when the Earth moves between the sun and the moon, causing the moon to reflect a dull reddish hue. This will be the first major astronomical event visible so far this year.

This celestial event will be convenient for early risers in Middle Georgia to view, with the eclipse beginning at 6:04 a.m. and totality (the time when the eclipse is full) occurring around dawn or 6:33 a.m. 

During the eclipse, the full moon will appear reddish for only 12 minutes. It will be easily visible in North and Central America, partially visible in Central and South Asia, and not visible in Europe or Africa.

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Unlike a solar eclipse, you don't need any special equipment to view a lunar eclipse. The best places for viewing a lunar eclipse have a high vantage point. Because the moon will be near the horizon, and almost going below it, the best place will have no obstructions such as buildings or trees.

The moon will take on a dull red hue during the total lunar eclipse because the Earth's will come between the sun and the moon, casting Earth's shadow onto the moon. Because of the Earth's sunlight filtering atmosphere, filtered rays of sunshine will turn the moon red. For a short while, Earth's atmosphere becomes a projector of sunsets and sunrises onto another celestial body.

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Total lunar eclipses are only slightly less common than total solar eclipses. A blood moon occurs about every 2.5 years, and a total solar eclipse happens about every 18 months, according to NASA's astronomical catalogs. The reason total lunar eclipses seem more frequent is that they can be observed more easily, unlike a total solar eclipse, which requires the viewer to be in a narrow area of land to view totality.