On August 28, 2026, the Moon almost completely plunged into Earth's shadow. At maximum, about 96 percent of the lunar disk was in the umbra, the darkest part of the shadow.
This deep partial eclipse was the second and last lunar eclipse of the year. The total phase lasted about three hours and eighteen minutes, and the entire penumbral one lasted five hours and thirty-eight minutes.
The eclipse was clearly visible in North and South America, as well as in parts of Europe and Africa. In India and many regions of Asia, the Moon was below the horizon, and it was not possible to observe the phenomenon directly.
For those who could not go outside or were in an unsuitable zone, the organizers prepared live broadcasts. The timeanddate.com channel started streaming around 02:00 UTC on August 28 with comments from astrophysicists and views from Chile, Spain, and the USA.
Additional broadcasts were conducted by Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and the Virtual Telescope Project from Italy and Chile. Viewers saw how the edge of the Moon gradually darkened, and at the peak the disk acquired a reddish hue.
Why is this eclipse called "almost total" although it is officially partial? The difference of a few percent of the disk remaining in light made it especially spectacular, but formally it did not move into the category of total.
The event ended the eclipse season of 2026. The next lunar eclipses await observers already in 2027.
