Moon calendar · eclipses
The lunar eclipse of August 28, 2026 an almost-total eclipse at dawn.
On August 28, 2026, the full Moon plunges almost entirely into Earth’s shadow: a deep partial eclipse, with around 93% of the lunar diameter eclipsed at the peak, at 4:13 UTC, i.e. 6:13 in Paris. The Americas see it in the dead of night; Western Europe catches it before dawn, the Moon low on the western horizon, just before first light. The Moon stands at 5° of Pisces.
The essentials
- Date
- August 28, 2026
- Type
- deep partial lunar (magnitude 0.93)
- Peak
- 4:13 UTC, i.e. 6:13 in Paris
- Visibility
- the Americas, Europe, West Africa, the eastern Pacific
- In Western Europe
- visible before dawn, the Moon low in the west, peak around 6:13
- Sign occupied
- Moon at 5° of Pisces, Sun in Virgo
What happens that day?
Two weeks after the great solar eclipse of August 12, the same eclipse season closes on the lunar side. This time it’s Earth that steps in: the full Moon slides into its shadow cone, without sinking in all the way. At the peak, around 93% of its diameter bathes in shadow: only a glint of light remains on one edge of the disc, and the rest takes on those dark, coppery tones we usually associate with total eclipses.
A partial this deep makes for a striking show: the Moon looks gnawed, off-balance, with a vivid contrast between the bright rim and the reddened mass. It’s also a fine open-sky lesson in geometry: you literally see the roundness of Earth’s shadow laid across the Moon.
Where and how to watch it?
The Americas have the best seat: the eclipse plays out there in the dead of night, the Moon high, from entering the shadow around 2:33 UTC to leaving it around 5:53. The eastern Pacific and the Atlantic are well served too.
From Western Europe, the rendezvous is for early risers: the eclipse plays out at the very end of the night, the Moon already low on the western horizon. The peak falls around 6:13 in Paris, in a sky that’s beginning to pale; the Moon sets shortly after, still eclipsed. To make the most of it, aim for a clear western horizon, countryside, coast or high ground, and settle in by 4:30 or 5:00 to follow the shadow’s progress. No protection needed: a lunar eclipse is safe to watch with the naked eye, and binoculars are enough to bring out the colors.
What astrology reads into it
This eclipsed full Moon stands at 5° of Pisces, facing the Sun in Virgo: it’s the last eclipse of the Virgo-Pisces run begun in 2024-2025, the one that closes the chapter before the Leo-Aquarius run takes over entirely. Tradition reads these closing eclipses as ebbing tides: what was meant to end finishes drawing away.
Pisces speaks of rest, of intuition, of what we let dissolve; Virgo, across the way, of sorting and the concrete. An invitation to look at what, over these past two years, was asking to be sorted or set down, and to grant it a real ending. The eclipse announces nothing: it marks a tempo, and each of us lays our own melody over it.
And the next one?
The following season opens on February 6, 2027 with an annular solar eclipse over the south of Chile and Argentina, followed on February 20 by a penumbral lunar eclipse, faint but visible from Western Europe in the dead of night. The headline event of 2027, though, will remain the total solar eclipse of August 2, the longest land totality of the century.
Frequently asked questions
- What time should you watch the August 28, 2026 eclipse in Western Europe?
- At the very end of the night: the Moon enters the shadow around 4:33 Paris time, and the peak arrives around 6:13, with the Moon very low in the west in a dawn sky. Settle in before 5:00 with a clear western horizon: the Moon will set while still eclipsed.
- Why isn’t this eclipse total?
- Because the Moon passes slightly along the edge of Earth’s shadow cone instead of crossing right through the center. Around 93% of its diameter sinks into it: it falls a breath short of totality, but the show comes very close.