Fwd: Celestial update reminder: nearly total lunar eclipse tomorrow

[Diane Tokugawa]

Diane

Begin forwarded message:

From: Alexei V Filippenko <afili...@berkeley.edu>
Date: August 26, 2026 at 3:34:08 PM PDT
To: Alexei V Filippenko <afili...@berkeley.edu>
Subject: Celestial update reminder: nearly total lunar eclipse tomorrow



Dear Astronomy/Lick/Keck supporter and/or friend,

Here's a reminder for an event I mentioned a month ago. There will be a partial lunar eclipse visible *tomorrow evening/night* (August 27, 2026) from North and South America, western Europe, and Africa (the latter two, early in the morning of August 28). It will be very deep, with 96.2% of the Moon's area (93% of its diameter) immersed in Earth's shadow. See, for example,
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2026-august-28 .

The times below are for PDT, August 27, but you can adjust to your local time zone (i.e., the time that corresponds to PDT). I don't include the "penumbral" part of the eclipse, since the dimming of the Moon is subtle; part of the Sun is seen from the Moon's perspective.

Partial Eclipse begins at 7:33:54 pm (the Moon will still be below the horizon in California).      
Maximum Eclipse at 9:12:53 pm
Partial Eclipse ends at 10:51:59 pm

All you need is a relatively clear sky (thin clouds are fine) and an unobstructed eastern horizon (especially if viewed from the USA west coast, for the beginning partial phases). I encourage you to view it!

Wishing you clear skies,

Alex