Partial Lunar Eclipse to be visible from West Africa and much of the Americas.

A partial Lunar Eclipse will occur on Friday 28 August 2026, starting at 1.25 am GMT. The whole eclipse will be visible across all of South America and the Atlantic, and most of North America, and most of West Africa and the western Maghreb, and western Iberia while part of the eclipse will be visible from parts of the northwest of North America, the remaining parts of the Maghreb and West Africa, as well as much of Central and Southern Africa, European Russia, the remainder of the Middle East, and Western and Central Europe, and parts of Norway. 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 August 2026 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).

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

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.  

The phases of the 3 March 2026 Lunar Eclipse. Leah Tiscione/Sky & Telescope.

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Total Solar Eclipse to be visible from Greenland and Spain.

 A total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from parts of Greenland and Spain, as well as intervening parts of the Atlantic Ocean, on Wednesday 12 August 2026, with a partial eclipse visible from the rest of western Europe, Canada, eastern parts of the United States, and parts of North and West Africa. The event will occur between 4.35 pm and 8.57 pm 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.

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Total Lunar Eclipse to be visible from East Asia, East Australia, Oceania, the Pacific Ocean, and western North America.

A total Lunar Eclipse will occur on Wednesday 3 March 2026, starting at 8.45 am GMT. It will be visible across the eastern parts of Asia, Australia, and Indonesia, as well as the rest of Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, the western part of North America, and parts of Antarctica. In Southeast, South, and Central Asia, western Australia and Indonesia, and much of North, Central, and South America, Greenland, and the Caribbean, part of the eclipse will be visible, 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 3 March 2026 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). 

The phases of the 3 March 2026 Lunar Eclipse. Leah Tiscione/Sky & Telescope.

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Annular eclipse to be visible from parts of Antarctica.

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 Antarctica on Tuesday 17 February 2026, with a partial eclipse visible from Tierra del Fuego, parts of Southern and East Africa, Madagascar. and the islands of the southwest Indian Ocean.

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 observed from Southern Utah on 28 October 2018. Wikimedia Commons.

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 specialised equipment.

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The furthest lunar apogee or 2025.

On Thursday 20 November 2025, at 2.49 am GMT, the Moon will be at its furthest point from the Earth in 2025, a distance of 406 692 km. The Moon orbits the Earth every 27.5 days, and like most orbiting bodies, its orbit is not completely circular, but slightly elliptical, so that the distance between the two bodies varies by about 3% over the course of a month. This elliptical orbit is also not completely regular, it periodically elongates then returns to normal, making some perigees closer than others. Because this is an elongating and contracting elliptical orbit, rather than a change in the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, the most extreme Lunar Perigee and Apogee of each year typically happen in the same Lunar Month; this year the closest Lunar Perigee occurred at 10.30 pm GMT on Wednesday 5 November.

Diagram showing the relationship of the Lunar orbit and Lunar month. Southern Astronomical Delights.

Although this is the furthest point from the Earth that the Moon will reach in 2025, it is not exceptional. The Moon reached 406 710 km from the Earth on 29 March 1984, and will reach 406 705 on 1 December 2043. 

The Earth-Moon System to Scale, 650 km/pixel. John Walker/Fourmilab.

However, there is evidence that the Earth and Moon have been moving steadily apart since the formation of the Earth/Moon system, about 4.5 billion years ago. Studies of the shells of Rudists, a sort of Bivalve Mollusc which laid down layers of shell daily, have found that the Cretaceous year was 372 days long. Since the length of a year is unlikely to have changed without the Earth shifting profoundly on its orbit, the most plausible explanation for this is that the days were shorter. Since the length of the day is driven by the closeness of the Moon, that the Moon was significantly closer, with an average distance from the Earth of approximately 383 000 km in the Late Cretaceous (about 80 million years ago) compared to 384 400 km today. 

This fits with measurements that made by the  Lunar Laser Ranging experiments, which work byby bouncing lasers off a mirror left on the Moon. The first of these experiments was set up by NASA's Apollo Program, with additional mirrors being placed by the Soviet Lunokhod remote operated Moon vehicles, and the Indian Chandrayaan-3 mission. All of these experiments have shown that the Moon is moving away from us at an average of 38 mm per year.

Measuring the distance between the Earth and the Moon by bouncing a laser between the Earth and a mirror and the Moon. All distances are to scale, with the light moving in real time for the scale. James O'Donoghue/NASA/Solar System Scope/Wikimedia Commons.

This would seem to imply that the collision which is thought to have formed the Earth/Moon system would have occurred about 1.5 billion years ago, something for which there was no evidence. Studies of Mesoproterozoic Banded Ironstone formations in Australia have shown a 23.3 year variation in tidal cycles, which are also determined by the lunar distance. Today, these cycles follow an 18.6 year cycle, which suggests the average distance between the Earth and the Moon between about 1.5 and 2.0 billion years ago was approximately 332 000 km, suggesting that the rate at which the Moon is retreating from the Earth has increased over time.

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