The moon will appear to disappear Thursday night into Friday as Earth’s shadow briefly covers almost its entire surface, in what will be a deep partial lunar eclipse. This celestial event follows a total solar eclipse that traversed parts of the Northern Hemisphere earlier in the month.
This near-total lunar eclipse will mask 96% of the lunar surface, offering a significant spectacle for viewers. The event is the second lunar eclipse of the year and the fourth eclipse overall. A total lunar eclipse previously occurred in March, visible to the Americas, Australia, and eastern Asia.
The upcoming eclipse will be visible across North and South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, weather permitting. Billions of people are expected to have a view, with nearly 1 billion in the U.S., Canada, and Central and South America positioned for the entire event. The partial phase of the eclipse is expected to last over three hours, while the entire eclipse, from the moon entering Earth's outer shadow until it exits, will span approximately 5 ½ hours. The eclipse will peak just after midnight Eastern Daylight Time.
While the Americas will have prime viewing for the entirety of the eclipse, audiences in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East will see it as the moon is setting. Viewers in Hawaii and the northwestern U.S. and Canada will see the moon rising as the eclipse begins.
Eclipses occur in pairs as the sun, moon, and Earth align. This precise alignment allows one celestial body to obscure the other. The next total lunar eclipse visible across the Americas is not anticipated until 2029, with another complete lunar blackout occurring on New Year's Eve 2028, primarily visible in Asia and Australia.
NASA continues to focus on lunar exploration, with astronaut Jack Hathaway noting that the agency is not slowing down in its endeavors. The Artemis II mission recently completed a lunar flyby, serving as a precursor to establishing a human and robotic presence on the moon in the coming years. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station and China's orbiting outpost may also have opportunities to view the eclipse from space, offering a unique perspective on cosmic events, according to station commander Jessica Meir.