08/26/2026
Hello Stargazers,
The night side of our planet will be treated to a deep, partial lunar eclipse starting late this Thursday night, August 27, extending into early Friday morning, August 28th. We will get to see 93% of the Moon's surface covered by the Earth's shadow at greatest eclipse, which is close to the maximum possible for this particular lunar eclipse (max is 96%).
In case you were wondering, this lunar eclipse is not a total eclipse for any location on the Earth. The USA has a great seat for seeing the best that this event has to deliver, but anyone located in the nighttime hemisphere of the Earth will be able to see some portion of the eclipse, if not the entirety of it. The first figure below gives a short but detailed overview of who can see what. [This figure is courtesy of EclipseWise.com (https://www.eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2026Aug28Pprime.html).
Note that UT1 times = Eastern Daylight time + 4 hours.]
For the South Eastern Connecticut, the 8/27 - 8/28 eclipse timings are:
> The partial phase (position U1 in the first figure shown above) begins around 10:10 PM EDT, 8/27. This is when you will first notice the edge of the Moon's bright surface going dark. The Earth's dark, inner, shadow, called the umbral shadow, is starting to sweep over the full Sturgeon Moon's surface.
> The deepest part of the eclipse, aka eclipse maximum or greatest eclipse, will be reached at 12:12AM on 8/28/2026. Most of the Moon's surface is covered by the Earth's umbral shadow with only a sliver of the bright, daylight side of the Moon still showing.
> The partial eclipse phase (U4) ends around 1:50AM as the Earth's dark shadow leaves the Moon's face.
The second figure shows the timing information in a different way that may be easier to interpret; it is from the folks at NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
(https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5672/) . Click this link to view their simulation of this eclipse - pretty cool! To convert the times shown in this diagram to your local time,
note that the times displayed are given in UTC. UTC times = Eastern Daylight time + 4 hours; +5 hours for Central time; +6 hours for Mountain time and + 7 hours for Pacific time.
If you don't feel like converting UTC or UT1 to your local time for your time zone, and you aren't located in South Eastern Connecticut, you can instead use TimeandDate.com to look up your location's eclipse particulars.
>> https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2026-august-28
Should the weather not cooperate and you are denied seeing this lunar delight unfold before your eyes, you can watch any of these live streams of this event instead.
TimeandDate.com:
> https://www.timeanddate.com/live/eclipse-lunar-2026-august-28
> The Griffiths Observatory, LA, CA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqDDrucjseM . At this location, the full Moon will rise, partially eclipsed. The deepest eclipse will be visible from California as will the partial phases as the Earth's shadow departs the lunar orb.
> The Virtual Telescope Project: https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2026/08/14/28-aug-2026-partial-lunar-eclipse-online-observation/
If our skies are clear, the Moon will be big and bright because it will be in its full phase. A lunar eclipse can only occur when the Moon is full which means that the Earth is located in between the Moon and the Sun. When these three celestial bodies are in line, the Earth blocks sunlight from striking the Moon's surface, that is, the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow. Locate the impressive full Sturgeon Moon, or if you prefer, the full Corn Moon, sit back in your lounge chair and watch this celestial extravaganza unfold with family and friends.
The Moon and lunar eclipses are safe to watch without the need for any special eye protection. No special gear is required to safely watch a lunar eclipse. This celestial event will be stunning to view just using your naked eye, but you might also wish to check it out using binoculars for a more magnified perspective. Additionally, this eclipse will be a great target for cell phone photographs. If you get any good shots, please share.
Wishing you clear skies. Enjoy the show.
