SUN · LUNAR ECLIPSE · BLOOD MOON
Total lunar eclipse of March 3, 2026
The total lunar eclipse of 3 March 2026 — 59 minutes of totality over the Pacific hemisphere, from east Asia and Australia to the Americas. It has passed; the next total is 31 December 2028. This eclipse has passed.
Greatest eclipse was 11:33 UT on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. The next lunar eclipse worth watching is the partial lunar eclipse of Aug 28 2026.
Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is completely safe to watch with the naked eye — no glasses, no filters. Everyone on the night side of Earth sees the same phase at the same moment.
The timeline, minute by minute
Contact times from the published canon (UT1, rounded to the minute). These instants are the same everywhere on Earth; whether you can see a given phase depends only on whether the Moon is above your horizon — check your city below.
| Phase | What happens | UT |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | Penumbral eclipse begins | 08:43 |
| U1 | Partial eclipse begins — the Moon enters the umbra | 09:49 |
| U2 | TOTALITY begins — the blood-moon phase | 11:03 |
| Max | Greatest eclipse | 11:33 |
| U3 | Totality ends | 12:02 |
| U4 | Partial eclipse ends — the Moon leaves the umbra | 13:17 |
| P4 | Penumbral eclipse ends | 14:23 |
What you'll have seen
The full Moon slides into Earth's shadow and, during totality, turns a deep copper-red — a blood moon. The colour is real physics: every sunrise and sunset on Earth, refracted through our atmosphere onto the lunar surface at once. With magnitude 1.15263, the Moon travels well inside the umbra.
Who saw it — city by city
Computed from the canon contact times and the Moon's real position over each city (geometric altitude; near the horizon, buildings and haze matter). “Maximum” is the local clock time of greatest eclipse. Each city links to its own eclipse page with the full calendar.
| City | Sees | Maximum (local) | Moon at max |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | Sets during — earlier phases | Mar 3, 6:33 AM | -1° |
| Los Angeles | Entire eclipse | Mar 3, 3:33 AM | 34° |
| Mexico City | Sets during — earlier phases | Mar 3, 5:33 AM | 19° |
| São Paulo | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Buenos Aires | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| London | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Madrid | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Berlin | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Rome | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Lagos | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Cairo | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Johannesburg | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Istanbul | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Dubai | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Delhi | Rises during — later phases | Mar 3, 5:03 PM | -16° |
| Tokyo | Entire eclipse | Mar 3, 8:33 PM | 36° |
| Sydney | Entire eclipse | Mar 3, 10:33 PM | 36° |
| Auckland | Entire eclipse | Mar 4, 12:33 AM | 45° |
Your city not here? Every one of our 132 city pages carries this eclipse — find yours.
Keep exploring
Eclipse predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA GSFC / EclipseWise.com) — 21st Century Canon of Lunar Eclipses, JPL DE430 ephemerides, Herald/Sinnott shadow model. Contact times UT1. City visibility computed by LiveEarthViewer from the canon instants. Source table checked 2026.