Total lunar eclipse — Pacific & Asia
A blood moon over the Pacific — the Moon slides through Earth's shadow in the pre-dawn Honolulu sky.
📍 Visible from where you are right now — computed in your browser
bearing · altitude · rise time · best time tonight
The moment of Total lunar eclipse — Pacific & Asia: https://nowsky.org/e/lunar-eclipse-2026 — opens at the right place and time, replayable, no login.
Available views: Orbit ✓ · Sky ✓
The story
On 3 March 2026 (UT) the Moon passed through the centre of Earth's umbra in a total lunar eclipse. The best seats were in the middle of the Pacific — Hawaii, New Zealand and Japan saw the whole event high in the sky — while Korea caught the partial phases in the western sky before dawn on 4 March. Totality lasted about 58 minutes.
A totally eclipsed Moon does not vanish; it turns a deep red. Only the red wavelengths of sunlight, refracted through Earth's atmosphere, reach into the shadow — at that moment every sunrise and sunset on Earth is lighting the Moon at once. Whether the colour was a bright orange or a dark brick red depended on how much volcanic ash and dust was in the air.
Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is shared by the whole night hemisphere at the same instant. It is safe to the naked eye and needs no equipment, so even under city lights people saw the red Moon and the stars that came out beside it — the sky darkens briefly during totality.
Because the date was 3 March, some Korean communities nicknamed it the "red Moon of the third day of the third month", after the traditional spring festival. Set the sky view to Honolulu or Seoul at the right time and the Moon can be watched sliding into and out of the shadow.
Why it matters
A lunar eclipse makes visible the 5° tilt of the Moon's orbit to the ecliptic. That tilt is why there is not an eclipse at every full Moon, and a central total eclipse comes only when full phase and a node crossing coincide.
The depth of the red during totality is a measure of Earth's atmosphere. The eclipse after the 1991 Pinatubo eruption was almost black, and such records feed stratospheric-aerosol research. Orbiters also measure the lunar surface temperature crashing by more than 100 °C during totality.
For Korea, where only the partial phases were seen, this eclipse is a preview: the total eclipses of 25 April 2032 and 8 October 2033 are both fully visible from Korea in the evening hours.
How to watch
Set the sky view to Honolulu and move the time to 3 March 2026 and the whole passage through Earth's shadow replays high in the sky; set it to Seoul and the partial phase appears low in the west before dawn on 4 March.
Selecting the Moon gives its altitude, bearing, phase and 24-hour track from your location, and the orbit replay shows the Sun–Earth–Moon line-up together with Earth's shadow cone.
The next total lunar eclipses are 31 December 2028 (a Korean evening), then 25 April 2032 and 8 October 2033 — each reachable directly from the sky view's event list.
See this for yourself — open that sky at that moment · replay the moment in the orbit view
Background
This eclipse belongs to Saros 123, and a similar one recurs 18 years and 11 days later, on 13 March 2044. The previous member of the series fell on 21 February 2008.
2026 also had solar eclipses — the annular eclipse over Antarctica on 17 February and the total eclipse over Spain and Iceland on 12 August. Lunar and solar eclipses usually come in pairs two weeks apart, and this eclipse's partner was the annular eclipse of 17 February.
A totally eclipsed Moon is roughly ten thousand times fainter than an ordinary full Moon, so stars within a few degrees of it become visible to the naked eye; in this eclipse the stars of Leo stood beside it.
Maximum eclipse came at 11:34 UT — 8:34 pm on 3 March in Korea, when the Moon was still below the horizon. Korea therefore saw only the tail of the penumbral and partial phases in the western sky before moonset on the morning of 4 March. The same eclipse was total near the zenith in Hawaii at 1:34 am on 3 March and in the northern sky of New Zealand around midnight on the 4th. A lunar eclipse happens at the same instant everywhere, but only where the Moon is up can it be seen.
FAQ
Was totality visible from Korea?
No. From Korea only the partial phases were seen, low in the western sky as the Moon set before dawn on 4 March.
How long did totality last?
About 58 minutes; the Moon passed close to the centre of the umbra.
Why does the Moon turn red?
Only the red wavelengths of sunlight, bent through Earth's atmosphere, reach into the shadow.
When is the next total lunar eclipse?
31 December 2028; the next one fully visible from Korea in the evening is 25 April 2032.
Related
- Total lunar eclipse of 2028
- Total lunar eclipse of 2032
- Total solar eclipse of August 2026
- The Moon — object index
- Earth — object index
Times and figures are approximate — verify with official sources when planning travel. Simulation uses J2000 mean elements.