What is a total lunar eclipse?

On March 3, 2026, a total lunar eclipse—the “Blood Moon”—will wash the Moon in a striking copper-red as Earth’s shadow fully covers it. It won’t be visible everywhere at once (only the parts of the world in nighttime during the eclipse will see it), but it will be among the year’s most broadly observable sky events. With the next total lunar eclipse not expected until New Year’s Eve 2028, this is one worth circling on the calendar.

March 3 is your last chance to see a blood moon total lunar eclipse until 2028

A family of three enjoying a Blood Moon eclipse.

A total lunar eclipse happens when the full Moon slips fully into Earth’s darkest shadow, the umbra. As sunlight bends through our atmosphere, most blue light is scattered away, leaving red and orange tones that give the Moon its “Blood Moon” glow during totality. These events follow long-term patterns, including the Saros cycle, which helps predict when eclipses repeat.

An image of a Blood Vampire Moon against a starry sky

What is a Saros?

Eclipses recur in a pattern called the Saros cycle—about 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours—which helps predict when the Sun, Earth, and Moon return to nearly the same alignment. Eclipses one Saros apart have similar geometry and occur near the same orbital node. The March 3, 2026 total lunar eclipse is part of Saros 133, a series that continues for centuries.

Eclipse phases and duration

A Blood Moon is seen over Cairo at the Helwan Astronomical Observatory on September 7, 2025, in Cairo, Egypt

The Blood Moon lunar eclipse over New Orleans, home to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, is shown from full Moon to totality as it moves into the Earth’s umbral shadow (Image Source: NASA Image and Video Library | NASA)

Visibility

Totality will be visible on the evening of March 3 across eastern Asia and Australia, and through the night over much of the Pacific. In North and Central America and western South America, it will be a pre-dawn event. Central Asia and parts of South America will see only a partial eclipse, while Europe and Africa won’t have visibility.

Map showing where the March 3, 2026, lunar eclipse will be visible. Contours mark the edge of the visibility region at eclipse contact times, labeled in UTC. (Image Source: NASA)

Totally safe to watch with your unaided eye, without any eclipse glasses, the best show will be at a spot away from city lights, in the dark night sky. Binoculars and a telescope will enhance the experience and enable spotting the nuances of the Moon. So, find clear horizons in your city and watch our natural satellite illuminate the sky with its rusty coppery hue for the last time in a while.

After next week's event, people around the world will get to observe a total lunar eclipse on New Year's Eve in 2028—that's a nearly three-year gap. On December 31, 2028, around 80 percent of the world's population will be able to experience the massive celestial event. With over 71 minutes of totality and more than three hours of partial visibility, the eclipse will grace the skies in Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia and parts of North America, per NASA

Next total lunar eclipse after March 3

The 2026 total lunar eclipse will last over 5 hours from start to end, with the penumbral phase starting at 8:44 UTC (3:44 am EST) and ending at 14:23 UTC (9:23 am EST). The totality, or the phase of complete coverage of the lunar surface by Earth’s central shadow, will last nearly an hour from 11:04 UTC (6:04 am EST) to 12:03 UTC (7:03 am EST). The partial eclipse, meanwhile, will last from 9:50 UTC (4:50 am EST) to 13:17 UTC (5:17 am EST).

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