A deep partial lunar eclipse is set for Aug. 27-28, and at its peak 96.2% of the moon will slip into Earth’s umbra. That leaves only a thin sliver of the lunar disk brightly lit, but enough shadow-free surface to keep it just short of totality.
That is why skywatchers are looking now. The eclipse is deep enough to earn the blood-moon look, with much of the moon turning a rusty red hue, and it is the deepest partial lunar eclipse visible anywhere on Earth until Dec. 31, 2028. For anyone who watched the total lunar eclipse of Sept. 7, 2025, from Barcelona, the new event offers a near repeat with one crucial difference: this time, a sliver stays in sunlight.
North America and South America get the best seats in the house, but the partial phase will also be visible across parts of the Americas, Europe and Africa. Up to 987 million people are positioned to see the full partial stage, while 3.34 billion can catch at least some part of it. For people on the night side of Earth, the show begins when Earth’s shadow starts to bite into the moon overnight on Aug. 27-28.
It is also one of the most accessible skywatching events because the eclipse can be seen by anyone on the night side of Earth at the time, without special equipment. August’s full moon is often called the Sturgeon Moon, a name tied to the season when sturgeon in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were historically most readily caught, though it has also been known as the Corn Moon, the Harvest Moon and the Mountain Shadows Moon. The only detail still missing is the exact local timing for each place, but the sequence is fixed: a deep partial eclipse, a red moon, and a near-total shadow that stops just short of full coverage.
