Overview
- The partial lunar eclipse is occurring the night of Thursday, August 27 into early Friday, August 28 and is visible across large parts of North and South America and portions of Europe and Africa where skies are clear.
- NASA and Goddard timings put the eclipse maximum at 04:13 UTC, and official data estimate roughly 96% of the lunar disc inside the umbra at that moment while other reputable outlets report about 93%, a minor difference due to rounding and differing metrics.
- The visually obvious partial phase lasts about 3 hours and 18 minutes and the full event including penumbral stages spans roughly 5 hours and 38 minutes, so observers have an extended window to watch the shadow move across the Moon.
- The Moon may take on reddish or copper tones because sunlight refracts through Earth’s atmosphere and scatters shorter blue wavelengths, directing red and orange light into Earth’s shadow; observing is safe with the naked eye and binoculars or a telescope will reveal more detail.
- Planned public events such as the Planetario Galileo Galilei’s free program in Buenos Aires opened for the eclipse, but local forecasts — notably the SMN warning of the Santa Rosa storm over AMBA — and regional cloudiness are the main factors likely to block views for many observers.