Syzygy
Eclipses
Every eclipse is a full moon or a new moon that lined up unusually well. Peak times are UTC; whether you can see one depends on where you are.
Next total lunar eclipse
31 December 2028
Safe to watch with the naked eye, visible from the entire night side of Earth, and the moon turns deep red at totality.
Moon detail for this dateNext total solar eclipse
2 August 2027
Totality is visible only from a narrow track across Earth’s surface. Never look at a partially eclipsed sun without certified filters.
Lunar eclipses
| Date | Day | Peak (UTC) | Type | Obscuration | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 February 2027 | Saturday | 23:12 | Penumbral | 0% | in 5 months |
| 18 July 2027 | Sunday | 16:02 | Penumbral | 0% | in 10 months |
| 17 August 2027 | Tuesday | 07:13 | Penumbral | 0% | in 11 months |
| 12 January 2028 | Wednesday | 04:13 | Partial | 3% | in 1 year |
| 6 July 2028 | Thursday | 18:19 | Partial | 33% | in 2 years |
| 31 December 2028 | Sunday | 16:51 | Total | 100% | in 2 years |
| 26 June 2029 | Tuesday | 03:22 | Total | 100% | in 3 years |
| 20 December 2029 | Thursday | 22:41 | Total | 100% | in 3 years |
| 15 June 2030 | Saturday | 18:33 | Partial | 47% | in 4 years |
| 9 December 2030 | Monday | 22:27 | Penumbral | 0% | in 4 years |
| 7 May 2031 | Wednesday | 03:50 | Penumbral | 0% | in 5 years |
| 5 June 2031 | Thursday | 11:44 | Penumbral | 0% | in 5 years |
Solar eclipses
| Date | Day | Peak (UTC) | Type | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 February 2027 | Saturday | 15:59 | Annular | in 5 months |
| 2 August 2027 | Monday | 10:06 | Total | in 11 months |
| 26 January 2028 | Wednesday | 15:07 | Annular | in 1 year |
| 22 July 2028 | Saturday | 02:55 | Total | in 2 years |
| 14 January 2029 | Sunday | 17:12 | Partial | in 2 years |
| 12 June 2029 | Tuesday | 04:04 | Partial | in 3 years |
| 11 July 2029 | Wednesday | 15:36 | Partial | in 3 years |
| 5 December 2029 | Wednesday | 15:02 | Partial | in 3 years |
| 1 June 2030 | Saturday | 06:27 | Annular | in 4 years |
| 25 November 2030 | Monday | 06:50 | Total | in 4 years |
| 21 May 2031 | Wednesday | 07:14 | Annular | in 5 years |
| 14 November 2031 | Friday | 21:06 | Total | in 5 years |
Solar eclipse types describe what is seen from the best location on Earth. An annular eclipse happens when the moon is near apogee and appears too small to cover the sun completely, leaving a ring of light.
Why eclipses come in seasons
The moon’s orbit is tilted about 5° to Earth’s orbital plane, so at most full moons it passes above or below Earth’s shadow, and at most new moons its shadow misses Earth entirely. Eclipses can only happen when a syzygy coincides with the moon crossing that plane — at one of the two points called nodes.
Those alignments come around roughly every 173 days, in what are called eclipse seasons, each about a month long. Every eclipse season produces at least one solar and one lunar eclipse, which is why they arrive in pairs about two weeks apart: a new moon at one node, a full moon at the other.
Read more about why an eclipsed moon turns red.