Earth's Shadow Swallowed 96% of the Moon Overnight in a Stunning Almost-Blood Moon

A Once-in-Years Celestial Spectacle

August's deep lunar eclipse put on a truly spectacular show overnight as Earth's shadow swept across the face of its natural satellite, turning the Sturgeon Moon a deep crimson around the point of maximum eclipse. Photographers were ready and waiting to capture each moment, revealing the colossal curve of our planet's silhouette as it consumed 96% of the moon's disk before steadily retreating in the hours that followed.

The deep partial lunar eclipse on August 27–28, 2026, was visible in North America and is the best lunar eclipse anywhere on Earth until New Year's Eve 2028. The event was the first deep partial lunar eclipse anywhere in the world since September 18, 2024, and the last until January 11–12, 2028, when only 2.4% of the moon will be in Earth's umbral shadow. In short, if you missed last night's show, you'll be waiting a long time for anything close to it.

Almost Total — But Not Quite

At the moment of greatest eclipse — 4:13 a.m. Universal Time — 96.3% of the Moon's disk was within Earth's umbra, the central part of the shadow where the Sun is completely blocked by Earth. The year 2026 did include a total lunar eclipse on March 3, but during the August eclipse, a small edge of the Moon remained outside Earth's umbra. That sliver of brightness made all the difference, technically keeping this out of "total" territory — though most skywatchers would have been hard-pressed to notice.

At maximum, Earth's dark umbral shadow covered about 96.2% of the Moon's visible surface, while a small bright edge remained outside the umbra. Most of the eclipsed portion appeared dark red, brown, or copper-colored. During the eclipse, the only sunlight reaching the Moon was light that grazed Earth's atmosphere — essentially, the combined light of all the sunsets and sunrises happening around Earth at that moment — and this filtered red light illuminated the Moon, giving it its characteristic copper or blood-red color.

Who Got the Best Views

The peak of the eclipse was visible in the Americas (except Alaska and northwestern Canada), western Europe, and western Africa. From start to finish, the eclipse lasted 339 minutes, and the Moon was in Earth's dark shadow during the partial phases for 199 minutes. That's nearly three and a half hours of dramatic sky theater for those with clear conditions overhead.

The August eclipse capped off a remarkable summer 2026 stargazing calendar that also included a total solar eclipse across Spain on August 12, which gave viewers in the rest of Europe, the UK, and North America a beautiful partial solar eclipse, plus the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. Around the time of greatest eclipse, sharp-eyed observers could look for a pale, turquoise band between the bright penumbral sliver and the reddened disk — a hue caused by sunlight filtered by the stratospheric ozone layer, which absorbs red light.

No Special Equipment Needed — And What Comes Next

A lunar eclipse is completely safe to watch with the naked eye alone. Unlike a solar eclipse, it requires no special eclipse glasses, and no telescope is needed either. Binoculars or a small telescope can make the colors and contrasts appear even more striking, but unaided eyes are all that's needed to enjoy the show.

The next true Blood Moon — a total lunar eclipse — will occur on December 31, 2028. Because this eclipse remained partial, the tiny uneclipsed section stayed dramatically brighter than the reddish portion — and the August 27–28 event was the last lunar eclipse of 2026. For now, those who stepped outside under clear skies last night witnessed something genuinely rare: the shadow of an entire planet, cast across another world in real time.