Watch Blue Supermoon Lunar Eclipse In Middle Tennessee

NASHVILLE, TN -- It's been more than a century that the second full moon in a month eclipsed while at perigee - the blue moon/supermoon/lunar eclipse hat trick - but that trifecta will repeat early on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 31. Whether Middle Tennesseans will be able to catch the eclipse is going to rely on whether they can find a view of the horizon, not an easy task in the hilly Midstate.

The best viewing areas will be in the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii, according to Gordon Johnston, program executive and lunar blogger at NASA Headquarters. These areas will have an clear view of totality. For now, the Middle Tennessee forecast for late Tuesday and Wednesday calls for partly cloudy skies, clearing into Wednesday morning.

Viewers in the eastern United States may see some of the eclipse, but not much, according to NASA. The darker part of the Earth's shadow will begin to blanket part of the moon with a reddish hue around 5:48 a.m. 10 degrees above the horizon in the northwest, but the moon will set an hour later in Nashville. The peak of the eclipse will be visible at 6:45 a.m. at just 0.4 degrees above the horizon and just moment before the moon sets.

"Since the Moon is near the horizon at this time, we recommend going to a high point or finding an unobstructed area with free sight to west-northwest for the best view of the eclipse," the skywatchers at Time and Date recommend.

The eclipse aside, the supermoon will be spectacular, though appearing smaller than the two that preceded it. Check local eclipse viewing times here.

For some historical perspective, the last time a supermoon, blue moon and lunar eclipse coincided, on March 31, 1866, Tennessee's Andrew Johnson was in the White House and America was about a year into Reconstruction from the Civil War. Tennessee would be the first Confederate state re-admitted to the Union in July and Parson Brownlow, one of the most infamous figures in Tennessee's political history, was governor.

In more recent times, the Eastern Hemisphere saw the trifecta on Dec. 30, 1982.

A lunar eclipse can only happen at a full moon, and can occur a minimum of two times to a maximum of five times in a calendar year — there will be five lunar eclipses in 2018, according to Earthsky.org, but only the Jan. 31 lunar eclipse will be visible in the United States. The next time a total lunar eclipse will be visible in North America is Jan. 21, 2019, and it will be visible throughout all of the United States. It will also be a supermoon, but it won't be a blue moon.

What do all those terms mean?

Supermoon: As NASA explains it, that's when the moon reaches its closest point to Earth in its orbit, known as perigee, in a single orbit. The moon appears about 14 percent brighter than usual, and it also looks larger as it rises.

Blue moon: That's the common name for the second full moon in a single month, but the moon does not take on a blue color. The first full moon of the month, also a supermoon,was on Jan.1. The occurrence of a blue moon means there won't be a full moon in February. But March also has a blue moon.

Lunar eclipse: A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the Earth's shadow, blocking the sun's light, which would otherwise reflect off the moon. The most dramatic of the types of eclipses — total, partial and penumbral — is the total lunar eclipse, in which the Earth's shadow completely covers the moon.

Total eclipse of the moon: The inner part of the Earth's shadow, the umbra, falls on the moon's face, completely obstructing it.

Partial lunar eclipse: The umbra takes only a bite out of the moon. The bite grows larger, and then recedes, but never completely shadows the moon.

Penumbral lunar eclipse: When this occurs, only the diffuse outer shadow of the Earth falls on the moon, and it's difficult to observe because the Earth doesn't appear to take a bite out of the moon. The moon takes on a darker shade at mid-eclipse, but most people won't notice it.

Blood moon: While the moon is in the Earth's shadow, it takes on a reddish tint. As NASA explained, "Some sunlight still reaches the moon [during a total lunar eclipse], but first it goes through Earth's atmosphere. The atmosphere filters out most of the sun's blue light, so the moon looks red."
For residents who won't see much, NASA offers a live stream of the lunar eclipse.

Additional reporting by Patch editor Beth Dalbey

Photo by Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images