A total lunar eclipse happens when the sun, Earth, and moon align so that the moon falls completely in the Earth's shadow. 

The campus observatory at the Howey Physics Building will open at 4 a.m. where the Aloha Telescope in Maui, Hawaii, will livestream a clear view of every stage of the eclipse, from 4 to 8 a.m. on the Georgia Tech Observatory YouTube channel.   

In Atlanta, a partial eclipse is expected to occur at 4:09 a.m., with the total eclipse beginning at 5:16 a.m. 

Jim Sowell, the director of Georgia Tech’s observatory, was recently interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwhere he spoke on the important impact of the Aloha Telescope, a joint project with the U.S. Air Force that began a decade ago as an innovative way to bring astronomy to K-12 classrooms around the world. 

“In the last few years, we’ve gotten to our stride,” Sowell said. “The kids get so excited and have all these questions.”

Clear skies are the weather conditions necessary for the best experience of this type of rare occurrence.