Lunar Eclipses

55 lunar eclipses from 2027 to 2050

A lunar eclipse is seen from the whole night side of Earth at once, so the useful question is whether the Moon is up where you are. Mid-eclipse is in Universal Time (UT); subtract 5 hours for US Eastern Standard Time, 8 for Pacific. Sort any column, or type a place; the buttons filter by decade.

Eclipse data from the NASA Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses (Espenak and Meeus).

The next total lunar eclipse is on Dec 31, 2028; the next with all of totality seen from the lower 48 states is on Jun 26, 2029

• Dec 31, 2028, 71 minutes of totality. Seen from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, Pacific. US: All of totality visible from Alaska; Moon sets during totality in Hawaii; not visible from the East, the central US and the West.
• Jun 26, 2029, 102 minutes of totality. Seen from Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East. US: All of totality visible from the East and the central US; Moon rises during totality in the West; not visible from Alaska and Hawaii. One of the longest totalities of the century. Night of June 25-26 in US time zones.
• Dec 20, 2029, 54 minutes of totality. Seen from Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia. US: Moon rises during totality in the East and the central US; not visible from the West, Alaska and Hawaii.
• Apr 25, 2032, 66 minutes of totality. Seen from eastern Africa, Asia, Australia, Pacific. US: All of totality visible from Hawaii; not visible from the East, the central US, the West and Alaska.
• Oct 18, 2032, 47 minutes of totality. Seen from Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia. US: Not visible from the US.
• Apr 14, 2033, 49 minutes of totality. Seen from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia. US: Not visible from the US.

The Moon turns red because sunlight bends through Earth's atmosphere, as if lit by every sunrise and sunset at once

Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light and refracts the remaining red light into the shadow. How dark and red the Moon gets depends on how much dust and cloud ring the Earth; after big volcanic eruptions it can nearly vanish. Observers rate it on the Danjon scale, from L0, almost invisible, to L4, bright copper-orange. The longest totality to 2050 lasts 102 minutes, on Jun 26, 2029, when the Moon passes almost through the center of the shadow.

Total, partial and penumbral eclipses

• Total. The whole Moon passes into the umbra, Earth's dark inner shadow, and turns red for up to about 1 hour 46 minutes.
• Partial. Only part of the Moon enters the umbra, which takes a dark, curved bite out of it, the edge of Earth's own round shadow.
• Penumbral. The Moon passes only through the faint outer shadow. Most are hard to notice; only the deepest show a soft shading on one edge.

The diagram shows how far from the center of the shadow the Moon passes at each eclipse: tracks through the middle give the longest, darkest totalities.

A lunar eclipse is safe to watch with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope

• No filter is needed. Binoculars show the color best and the stars of the Moon's constellation appear around it during totality.
• Time it. The partial phases before and after totality each last about an hour; the penumbral phase barely shows.
• Photograph it. A camera on a tripod needs exposures of about a second or longer during totality at moderate ISO; bracket widely, as the brightness changes fast near the start and end.
• Watch for a selenelion. At moonset or moonrise near totality you can sometimes see the eclipsed Moon and the rising or setting Sun at the same time, thanks to refraction.

Solar eclipses · Astronomy event calendar