Steve’s Virtual Planet

Partial Lunar Eclipse - August 27!

Summer this year raps up nicely with a partial lunar eclipse on the evening of August 27-28. This is a Thursday night and it will be visible to all of North America. The first stage is starting Aug 27 at 9:24PM (21:24) EST and last visible at 3:01PM (03:01) EST the morning of Aug 28. There are more great web resources with really good explanations of eclipses in general plus details of this specific eclipse. Below are several good ones to dig into.

NASA has information on all of the lunar eclipses for 2026, into 2027. Their Daily Moon Guide also has details on this coming event. This NASA link has details on how and why an eclipse occurs in the first place. You will learn about our Moon’s orbit and the penumbra and umbra shadows that we can witness during an eclipse.

In-The_Sky is a very sophisticated site for observers and has a very useful guide with a simulation of the event from our local Atlanta skies. You can also get an active sky map from SkyViewCafe and you can plan your observation towards the south for the evening.

Of course an eclipse is far easier to predict than the weather but hopefully we’ll be “in the clear” for the duration of the eclipse. Keep an eye on the forecast starting late the preceding week (and keep your fingers crossed!). Assuming that sky conditions open up, make sure you have read the articles above to get the timing charts and some tips for preparation. You don’t need a telescope or even binoculars to enjoy this event.

Enjoy the time under the sky. Remember that howling is perfectly allowed, too! Good luck with the weather.