Deep Partial Lunar Eclipse on Aug. 27-28 Will Put 96.2% of the Moon in Earth's Shadow

A deep partial lunar eclipse will take place on Aug. 27-28, with almost the whole moon slipping into Earth's shadow. At its peak, at 12:12 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), or 0412 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), on Aug. 28, 96.2% of the lunar surface will be covered by Earth's dark umbral shadow — the umbra being the shadow's inner core, where the Earth blocks the sun completely. Only a slender part of the moon will still be lit directly by the sun, while the rest may take on a reddish-orange hue, producing an 'almost blood moon'.

The eclipse opens quietly at 9:23 p.m. EDT on Aug. 27 (0123 GMT on Aug. 28), when the moon enters Earth's faint outer shadow, the penumbra. It becomes far more obvious at 10:33 p.m. EDT (0233 GMT), when the partial eclipse begins and the umbra starts creeping across the lunar surface. The partial phase ends at 1:51 a.m. EDT (0551 GMT) and the penumbral eclipse finishes at 3:01 a.m. EDT (0701 GMT).

The eclipse will be visible from North and South America, Europe and Africa, though how much of it you see depends on where you are — and on the clouds. North and South America are particularly well placed for the entire event. European skywatchers get it during the early morning of Aug. 28, with the moon setting while the partial eclipse is still under way; from London, maximum eclipse falls at 5:12 a.m. BST, just over an hour before moonset.

Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse needs no special equipment or eye protection. Anyone in the visibility zone can simply go outside and look up. Binoculars or a telescope will give a better view of Earth's shadow sweeping across the lunar surface.