Total lunar eclipse to be visible from the Americas.

A total Lunar Eclipse will occur on Friday 14 March 2025, starting at about 5.09 am GMT. It will be visible across the entire of the Americas, as well as much of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the eastern tip of Russia. Part of the eclipse will be visible from western parts of Africa and Europe, as well as much of East and Southeast Asia, and Australasia, although in these areas the Moon will either rise part way through the eclipse, or set before it is complete in these areas.

Areas from which the 14 March 2025 Lunar Eclipse will be visible. Dominic Ford/In the Sky.

The Moon produces no light of its own, but 'shines' with reflected light from the Sun. Thus at Full Moon the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun, and its illuminated side is turned towards us, but at New Moon the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, so that its illuminated side is turned away from us.

How the phases of the Moon are caused by the relative positions of the Earth, Sun and Moon. Karl Tate/Space.com.

Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow. This can only happen at Full Moon (unlike Solar Eclipses, which happen only when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sum, and therefore only occur at New Moon), but does not happen every Lunar Month as the Sun, Moon and Earth are not in a perfect, unwavering line, but rather both the Earth and the Moon wobble slightly as they orbit their parent bodies, rising above and sinking bellow the plane of the ecliptic (the plane upon which they would all be in line every month). 

Phases of the Lunar Eclipse that will be seen on 14 March 2025. The times are given in GMT. Sky & Telescope.

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Partial Lunar Eclipse on 18 September 2024.

A partial Lunar Eclipse will occur on Wednesday 18 September 2024, starting at 0.41 am GMT. The whole eclipse will be visible across all of South America and the Atlantic, and most of North America, Europe, Africa, and parts of the Middle East, while part of the eclipse will be visible from the northwest of North America, the Horn of Africa, European Russia, the remainder of the Middle East, and parts of western Asia and the Indian Ocean. although in these areas the Moon will either rise part way through the eclipse, or set before it is complete.

Areas from which the 28 October 2023 Lunar Eclipse will be visible. Dominic Ford/In the Sky.

The Moon produces no light of its own, but 'shines' with reflected light from the Sun. Thus, at Full Moon the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun, and its illuminated side is turned towards us, but at New Moon the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, so that its illuminated side is turned away from us.

Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow. This can only happen at Full Moon (unlike Solar Eclipses, which happen only when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sum, and therefore only occur at New Moon), but does not happen every Lunar Month as the Sun, Moon and Earth are not in a perfect, unwavering line, but rather both the Earth and the Moon wobble slightly as they orbit their parent bodies, rising above and sinking bellow the plane of the ecliptic (the plane upon which they would all be in line every month).

Because the Moon is passing through a shadow, rather than being blocked from our view, it does not completely disappear during an eclipse like the Sun, but in a total Lunar Eclipse goes through two distinct phases of dimming, the Penumbra, when it is still partially illuminated by the Sun, and the Umbra, when the Earth completely blocks direct sunlight from the Moon. This does not result in complete darkness, as the Moon is still partially lit by reflected Earthlight, but it does turn a deep, dark red colour.  In a partial eclipse the Earth passes completely through the Moon's penumbra, but only partly through its umbra.  

Phases of the 18 September 2024. NASA Eclipse Website.

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Total Lunar Eclipse to be visible from North America.

A total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from parts of Mexico and the United States on Monday 8 April 2024, with a partial eclipse visible from the rest of North America, except Alaska, as well as all of Central America, the Caribbean, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, the Galapagos, and Hawai'i. The event will occur between 3.43 pm and 8.52 am GMT, although local start and end times will vary within this window.

The Moon's shadow projected onto the Earth as the eclipse proceeds. The hemisphere of the Earth facing the Sun is shown. Contours show where various fractions of the Sun's disk is covered. In-The-Sky.

Eclipses are a product of the way the Earth, Moon and Sun move about one-another. The Moon orbits the Earth every 28 days, while the Earth orbits the Sun every 365 days, and because the two Sun and Moon appear roughly the same size when seen from Earth, it is quite possible for the Moon to block out the light of the Sun. At first sight this would seem likely to happen every month at the New Moon, when the Moon is on the same side of the Earth as the Sun, and therefore invisible (the Moon produced no light of its own, when we see the Moon, we are seeing reflected sunlight, but this can only happen when we can see parts of the Moon illuminated by the Sun).

The relative positions of the Sun, Moon and Earth during a Solar eclipse. Starry Night.

However, the Moon does not orbit in quite the same plane as the Earth orbits the Sun, so the Eclipses only occur when the two orbital planes cross one-another; this typically happens two or three times a year, and always at the New Moon. During Total Eclipses the Moon entirely blocks the light of the Sun, however most Eclipses are Partial, the Moon only partially blocks the light of the Sun.

How the differing inclinations of the Earth and Moon's orbits prevent us having an eclipse every 28 days. Starry Skies.

Although the light of the Sun is reduced during an Eclipse, it is still extremely dangerous to look directly at the Sun, and viewing eclipses should not be undertaken without appropriate equipment.

The narrow path of totality—where the Moon covers the Sun completely, causing a total eclipse—runs through Mexico (from Sinaloa to Coahuila), the USA (from Texas to Maine), and Canada (from Ontario to Newfoundland). A partial eclipse will be visible across nearly all of North America, and a sliver of western Europe. Time and Date.

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Penumbral lunar eclipse to be visible from the Americas, Western Europe, West Africa, Eastern Australia, New Guinea, Oceana, Japan, the Russian Far East, and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

A penumbral Lunar Eclipse will occur on Monday 25 March 2024, starting at 4.53 am GMT and ending at 9.32 am GMT. The whole eclipse will be visible across all of the Americas except eastern Brazil, while part of the eclipse will be visible from the remainder of Brazil, Western Europe, West Africa, Eastern Australia, New Guinea, Oceana, Japan, the Russian Far East, and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, although in these areas the Moon will either rise part way through the eclipse, or set before it is complete.

Map showing areas from which the 25 March 2023 penumbral lunar eclipse will be visible. Time and Date.

The Moon produces no light of its own, but 'shines' with reflected light from the Sun. Thus, at Full Moon the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun, and its illuminated side is turned towards us, but at New Moon the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, so that its illuminated side is turned away from us.

Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow. This can only happen at Full Moon (unlike Solar Eclipses, which happen only when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sum, and therefore only occur at New Moon), but does not happen every Lunar Month as the Sun, Moon and Earth are not in a perfect, unwavering line, but rather both the Earth and the Moon wobble slightly as they orbit their parent bodies, rising above and sinking bellow the plane of the ecliptic (the plane upon which they would all be in line every month).

Because the Moon is passing through a shadow, rather than being blocked from our view, it does not completely disappear during an eclipse like the Sun, but in a total Lunar Eclipse goes through two distinct phases of dimming, the Penumbra, when it is still partially illuminated by the Sun, and the Umbra, when the Earth completely blocks direct sunlight from the Moon. This does not result in complete darkness, as the Moon is still partially lit by reflected Earthlight, but it does turn a deep, dark red colour.  In a penumbral eclipse only the first of these phases occurs.

(Top) The geometry of the Earth's shadow. Within the Earth's penumbral shadow, the planet covers some fraction the Sun's disk. Only within the smaller umbra does the Earth cover the entirety of the Sun's disk. Any areas of the Moon's surface that pass through the penumbra appear darker than usual as the Earth is obstructing some of the sunlight that usually illuminates them. Areas within the umbra, meanwhile, receive no illumination from the Sun at all. Time and Date. (Bottom) The passage of the Moon through the Earth's penumbral shadow during the 25 March 2024 penumbral lunar eclipse. Guy Ottewell/EarthSky.

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Annular Eclipse to be visible from much of North, Central, and South America.

An annular eclipse of the Sun (eclipse in which the Moon passes in front of the Sun, but does not completely block it, leaving visible ring of light) will be visible from parts of the United States, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, on Saturday 14 October, with a partial eclipse visible from much of the rest of the Americas, as well as parts of Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Guinea.

The Moon's shadow projected onto the Earth as the eclipse proceeds. The hemisphere of the Earth facing the Sun is shown. Contours show where various fractions of the Sun's disk is covered. Dominic Ford/In the Sky.

Eclipses are a product of the way the Earth, Moon and Sun move about one-another. The Moon orbits the Earth every 28 days, while the Earth orbits the Sun every 365 days, and because the two Sun and Moon appear roughly the same size when seen from Earth, it is quite possible for the Moon to block out the light of the Sun. At first sight this would seem likely to happen every month at the New Moon, when the Moon is on the same side of the Earth as the Sun, and therefore invisible (the Moon produced no light of its own, when we see the Moon we are seeing reflected sunlight, but this can only happen when we can see parts of the Moon illuminated by the Sun). 

The relative positions of the Sun, Moon and Earth during a Solar eclipse. Not to scale. Starry Night.

An Annular Eclipse is a type of Solar Eclipse, in which the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun while the moon is close to aphelion (when it is furthest from the Earth). The Moon has a variable orbit, getting considerably closer and further from the Earth at different times, which alters its size as seen from the Earth. Thus, when it is at its furthest from the Earth it appears considerably smaller than the Sun so an eclipse occurring at this time will produce a ring of sunlight, rather than a period of darkness. A Partial Annular Eclipse resembles a regular Partial Eclipse, in that the light of the Sun will be partially blocked by the Moon passing in from of it, though the disk of the Moon will be smaller.

An Annular Eclipse on 20 May 2013, photographed from Middlegate, Nevada. Wikipedia.

However, the Moon does not orbit in quite the same plane as the Earth orbits the Sun, so the Eclipses only occur when the two orbital planes cross one-another; this typically happens two or three times a year, and always at the New Moon. During Total Eclipses the Moon entirely blocks the light of the Sun, however most Eclipses are Partial, the Moon only partially blocks the light of the Sun.

How the differing inclinations of the Earth and Moon's orbits prevent us having an eclipse every 28 days. Starry Skies.

Although the light of the Sun is reduced during an Eclipse, it is still extremely dangerous to look directly at the Sun, and eclipses should only be viewed with specialized equipment.

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