SUN · LUNAR ECLIPSE · BLOOD MOON
Total lunar eclipse of December 20, 2029
A total lunar eclipse the night before the December solstice — 54 minutes of totality spanning the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, ending after midnight UT on 21 December.
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) — note the eclipse runs past midnight UT into Dec 21. 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 (date) |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | Penumbral eclipse begins | 19:42 (Dec 20) |
| U1 | Partial eclipse begins — the Moon enters the umbra | 20:54 (Dec 20) |
| U2 | TOTALITY begins — the blood-moon phase | 22:14 (Dec 20) |
| Max | Greatest eclipse | 22:41 (Dec 20) |
| U3 | Totality ends | 23:09 (Dec 20) |
| U4 | Partial eclipse ends — the Moon leaves the umbra | 00:29 (Dec 21) |
| P4 | Penumbral eclipse ends | 01:41 (Dec 21) |
What you'll see
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 1.11895, the Moon travels well inside the umbra. The Moon is 4.4 days after apogee — a slightly smaller moon. It sits in Taurus for the night.
Who sees 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 | Rises during — later phases | Dec 20, 5:41 PM | 13° |
| Los Angeles | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Mexico City | Rises during — later phases | Dec 20, 4:41 PM | -16° |
| São Paulo | Rises during — later phases | Dec 20, 7:41 PM | 11° |
| Buenos Aires | Rises during — later phases | Dec 20, 7:41 PM | -3° |
| London | Entire eclipse | Dec 20, 10:41 PM | 58° |
| Madrid | Entire eclipse | Dec 20, 11:41 PM | 64° |
| Berlin | Entire eclipse | Dec 20, 11:41 PM | 60° |
| Rome | Entire eclipse | Dec 20, 11:41 PM | 70° |
| Lagos | Entire eclipse | Dec 20, 11:41 PM | 68° |
| Cairo | Entire eclipse | Dec 21, 12:41 AM | 77° |
| Johannesburg | Entire eclipse | Dec 21, 12:41 AM | 40° |
| Istanbul | Entire eclipse | Dec 21, 1:41 AM | 70° |
| Dubai | Entire eclipse | Dec 21, 2:41 AM | 57° |
| Delhi | Entire eclipse | Dec 21, 4:11 AM | 38° |
| Tokyo | Sets during — earlier phases | Dec 21, 7:41 AM | -9° |
| Sydney | Not visible | — | below horizon |
| Auckland | Not visible | — | below horizon |
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.