The next lunar eclipse is a penumbral eclipse on . A lunar eclipse happens only at full moon, when the Sun, Earth and the Moon line up and Earth’s shadow falls across the Moon.
Key facts
- Next lunar eclipse: .
- Lunar eclipses happen only at full moon, when the Sun, Earth and the Moon line up.
- 2027 has three penumbral lunar eclipses and no partial or total one.
- Totality can last up to about 1 hour 46 minutes; the longest of the 21st century is 1 h 42 min 57 s, on July 27, 2018.
- A lunar eclipse is visible from the whole night side of Earth and is safe to watch with the naked eye.
When is the next lunar eclipse?
The next lunar eclipse, on , can be seen at least in part from North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The next 12 lunar eclipses are listed below with their type, length of totality and the regions that can see them, computed by our lunar engine and refreshed with every daily build of the site. The next blood moon is the first eclipse marked total.
Times are in UTC and mark the moment of greatest eclipse. The “where visible” column lists the regions where the Moon is above the horizon for at least part of the eclipse.
- Penumbral: a faint gray shading that many people do not notice.
- Partial: a dark bite taken out of one side of the Moon.
- Total: the whole Moon turns red, orange or brown, the sight known as a blood moon.
Every lunar eclipse date is also a full moon, and our list of the next full moon dates flags any full moon that brings an eclipse.
Is there a lunar eclipse in 2027?
Yes, but 2027 has only three penumbral lunar eclipses and no partial or total eclipse, so the Moon never enters Earth’s dark central shadow that year.
The first of the three is the deepest. NASA gives it an umbral magnitude of −0.057, which means the Moon’s edge passes just outside the dark shadow. A careful observer may see one side of the Moon look slightly smoky at mid-eclipse. The other two eclipses of 2027 are far shallower and are very hard to see without a camera.
The quiet spell follows a busy 2026. The total lunar eclipse of March 3, 2026 brought about 58 minutes of totality to East Asia, Australia, the Pacific and the Americas. The deep partial eclipse of August 28, 2026 covered 93% of the Moon’s diameter with Earth’s umbra.
What is a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse is the passage of the full moon through Earth’s shadow, which dims the Moon for up to several hours.
Earth casts two shadows into space. The umbra is the dark inner cone, where Earth blocks the Sun completely. The penumbra is the paler outer zone, where Earth blocks only part of the Sun.
The Moon can enter Earth’s shadow only when it lies on the far side of Earth from the Sun. That geometry is the full moon, when the whole near side faces the Sun. No other of the eight phases of the moon can be eclipsed. Between eclipses, the moon phase today page shows how close the Moon is to its next full phase.
What are the three types of lunar eclipse?
Lunar eclipses come in three types, penumbral, partial and total, depending on how deeply the Moon moves into Earth’s shadow.
- Penumbral eclipse: the Moon crosses only the penumbra. The Moon dims so slightly that the change can be difficult to notice.
- Partial eclipse: part of the Moon enters the umbra. The shadowed part looks dark gray, with a curved edge that shows the round shape of Earth.
- Total eclipse: the whole Moon enters the umbra. Sunlight bent through Earth’s atmosphere still reaches it, so it glows red instead of vanishing.
NASA’s catalog lists 228 lunar eclipses in 2001–2100: 86 penumbral, 57 partial and 85 total.
What happens during a total lunar eclipse?
A total lunar eclipse unfolds in a fixed order over several hours, as the Moon moves into Earth’s shadow, through its darkest part and out again.
Astronomers label the moments when the Moon touches each shadow edge as contacts P1, U1, U2, U3, U4 and P4.
- Penumbral eclipse begins (P1): the Moon enters the penumbra. At first the dimming is invisible; a gray shading becomes noticeable only as the Moon nears the umbra.
- Partial eclipse begins (U1): the Moon’s leading edge touches the umbra, and a dark, curved bite appears.
- Totality begins (U2): the whole Moon is inside the umbra and turns red, orange or brown.
- Greatest eclipse: the Moon is deepest in the shadow. This is the moment eclipse tables list, and one edge of the Moon often looks brighter than the other.
- Totality ends (U3), the partial eclipse ends (U4) and the penumbral eclipse ends (P4): the same stages run in reverse as the Moon leaves the shadow.
The Moon moves eastward through Earth’s shadow. As seen from the Northern Hemisphere, the bite therefore starts on the Moon’s left edge; from the Southern Hemisphere, it starts on the right edge.
Why isn’t there a lunar eclipse at every full moon?
There is no eclipse every month because the Moon’s orbit is tilted 5.14° to the plane of Earth’s orbit, so most full moons pass just above or below Earth’s shadow.
The two points where the Moon’s orbit crosses Earth’s orbital plane are called nodes. An eclipse can happen only when a full moon or new moon falls close to a node. That alignment returns about every 173 days, in windows called eclipse seasons. Because two seasons take about 347 days, they arrive about 19 days earlier each calendar year.
An eclipse season can bring a solar eclipse at new moon and a lunar eclipse at full moon, about two weeks apart. The 29.5-day lunar cycle and the 173-day season rarely line up the same way twice, so the count changes from year to year. Every year of the 21st century has two to four lunar eclipses, counting the faint penumbral ones.
Only two phases can bring an eclipse: full moon and new moon. Our moon phase calendar shows both for every month.
How long does a lunar eclipse last?
Totality can last up to about 1 hour 46 minutes, and the partial phases on either side can stretch the visible eclipse to more than 3½ hours.
The faint penumbral phases add roughly another hour at each end, but they are almost impossible to see. The record holders are:
| Eclipse | Length of totality | Note |
|---|---|---|
| July 16, 2000 | 1 h 46 min 24 s | Longest of the 20th century |
| July 27, 2018 | 1 h 42 min 57 s | Longest of the 21st century |
| March 3, 2026 | about 58 min | Most recent total lunar eclipse |
Totality is longest when the Moon passes through the center of the umbra. It is also longer when the Moon is near apogee, its farthest point from Earth, because the Moon then moves more slowly along its orbit. The eclipses of 2000 and 2018 had both advantages. A Moon near perigee, as at a supermoon, crosses the shadow faster.
Where can you see a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse is visible from anywhere on the night side of Earth where the Moon is above the horizon, which is about half of the planet.
Everyone who can see the Moon sees the same stage at the same moment, because the shadow lies on the Moon itself. Only the local clock time changes. Observers near the edge of the visible zone see the eclipse begin or end with the Moon low in the sky.
To check whether the Moon will be up at the key time, compare the UTC times in the table with your local moonrise and moonset times. A lunar eclipse comes to you; there is no need to travel unless clouds or daylight hide the Moon.
Is it safe to look at a lunar eclipse?
Yes, a lunar eclipse is completely safe to watch with the naked eye, because you are looking at the Moon in shadow, not at the Sun.
NASA notes that no special equipment is needed, although binoculars or a telescope will enhance the view. Binoculars show the red color more clearly and reveal the curved edge of Earth’s shadow. A solar eclipse is different: it needs certified eye protection at every stage except the brief total phase.
How do you photograph a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse is easiest to photograph with a camera on a tripod, because the Moon in totality is dim enough to need exposures of several seconds.
- Use a tripod and a remote shutter or 2-second timer. Long exposures blur at the slightest touch.
- Change exposure as the eclipse deepens. During the partial phases, the uneclipsed part is still bright full-moon light, so use short exposures. During totality, lengthen the exposure step by step.
- Choose a long lens for detail. A telephoto lens shows the shading across the disc; a wide lens can place the red Moon above a landscape.
- On a phone, rest the phone on something solid, tap the Moon to focus and lower the exposure slider. Night mode works best during totality.
How dark will a total lunar eclipse be?
The Danjon scale rates the darkness and color of a total lunar eclipse from L = 0, when the Moon almost disappears, to L = 4, when it glows bright copper-red or orange.
| Danjon value | What the Moon looks like |
|---|---|
| L = 0 | Very dark; Moon almost invisible, especially at mid-totality |
| L = 1 | Dark gray or brownish; details hard to make out |
| L = 2 | Deep red or rust; very dark center with a brighter outer edge |
| L = 3 | Brick red; the shadow usually has a bright or yellow rim |
| L = 4 | Very bright copper-red or orange; a bluish, very bright rim |
The color depends on Earth’s atmosphere, which filters the sunlight before it enters the umbra. Large volcanic eruptions that load the air with ash are often followed by very dark, red eclipses for several years. Extensive cloud along the edge of Earth, as seen from the Moon, also darkens an eclipse.
Why is a total lunar eclipse called a blood moon?
A total lunar eclipse is called a blood moon because sunlight filtered through Earth’s atmosphere turns the eclipsed Moon red.
Air molecules scatter blue light out of the sunlight that skims past Earth, while red light travels on and is bent into the shadow. The name spread widely during the four total lunar eclipses of 2014 and 2015. Our guide to the blood moon explains the colors, the history of the name and when the next one is due.
What are the most famous lunar eclipses in history?
The most famous lunar eclipses include the Babylonian record of February 6, 747 BCE, the eclipse of March 1, 1504 that Christopher Columbus predicted on Jamaica, and the total eclipse of July 27, 2018, the longest of the 21st century. Lunar eclipses appear in written records for more than 2,700 years, from Babylonian tablets to modern spacecraft images.
- February 6, 747 BCE: the earliest eclipse record from Babylon, later used by Ptolemy as a starting point for his calculations.
- January 24, 734 CE: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle wrote that the Moon looked “as if it had been sprinkled with blood.”
- March 1, 1504: stranded on Jamaica, Christopher Columbus used an almanac’s eclipse prediction to persuade the island’s Indigenous people to keep supplying his crew with food.
- July 16, 2000: the longest total lunar eclipse of the 20th century, at 1 h 46 min 24 s.
- 2014–2015: four total lunar eclipses in a row, about six months apart, popularized the term “blood moon.”
- July 27, 2018: the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century, at 1 h 42 min 57 s.
When is the next solar eclipse?
The next solar eclipse is an annular eclipse on , with greatest eclipse over South America (31.3°S, 48.5°W). A solar eclipse happens at new moon, when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, often about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse in the same eclipse season.
| Greatest eclipse (UTC) | Type | Point of greatest eclipse |
|---|---|---|
| , 15:59 | Annular | South America (31.3°S, 48.5°W) |
| , 10:06 | Total | North Africa (25.5°N, 33.2°E) |
| , 15:07 | Annular | South America (3.0°N, 51.5°W) |
| , 02:55 | Total | Australia (15.6°S, 126.7°E) |
| , 17:12 | Partial | Partial only (polar regions) |
| , 04:04 | Partial | Partial only (polar regions) |
The table shows the next six solar eclipses and where each one is greatest. The standout is the total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027, which crosses southern Spain, North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula with up to 6 minutes 23 seconds of totality.
Solar eclipses can only fall on the date of a new moon, and the next new moon page gives the next one. Our lunar vs solar eclipse comparison explains why a solar eclipse needs eye protection and a narrow path, while a lunar eclipse needs neither.