![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/lunar-eclipse-1.jpg\")
Credit: Javier Zayas Photography \/ Getty Images<\/p>\nIf you’re out looking at the lunar eclipse this morning \u2013 or tonight, depending on where you’re observing from \u2013 here are some quick tips to help you make the most of it.<\/p>\n
The deep partial lunar eclipse of August 27\u201328, 2026 sees up to 96% of the Moon’s surface pass into Earth\u2019s shadow, making it a spectacular sight visible across North America, South America, Europe and Africa.<\/p>\n
Here we’ll reveal a quick ‘cheat sheet’ for catching the lunar eclipse, with some tips on how to capture a photograph of it with your smartphone.<\/p>\n
Credit: Javier Zayas Photography \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
When to look<\/p>\n
Here are the timings in UTC for the lunar eclipse, from the moment Earth’s shadow touches the edge of the Moon, through maximum eclipse and up until the moment the eclipse ends<\/p>\n
UTC is ‘Co-ordinated Universal Time’, so you’ll need to adjust the timings accordingly, depending on what time zone you’re viewing from.<\/p>\n
Penumbral eclipse begins: 01:24
\nPartial lunar eclipse begins: 03:34
\nGreatest eclipse: 04:13
\nPartial ends: 05:52
\nPenumbral ends: 07:02<\/p>\n
Here’s a calculator to help you convert the UTC times into your own time zone.<\/p>\n
PDT: UTC -7
\nMDT: UTC -6
\nCDT: UTC -5
\nEDT: UTC -4
\nBST: UTC +1<\/p>\n
![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/august-2026-lunar-eclipse.jpg\")
Illustration showing how the August 2026 lunar eclipse will appear. Credit: Pete Lawrence
\nWhere to look<\/p>\n
If you’re in the western part of the world, such as North and South America, you’ll need to look toward the southeastern part of the sky in the late evening of August 27 or around midnight into the early morning of August 28.<\/p>\n
If you’re in western Europe or western Africa, you’ll need to look toward the southwestern horizon in the early hours before dawn on August 28.<\/p>\n
Either way, you’re looking for the full Moon \u2013\u00a0you can’t miss it! Then all you have to do is wait until the lunar eclipse begins.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Photograph it with your smartphone<\/p>\n
Are you mere minutes away from the lunar eclipse starting? You could decide to capture an image of the lunar eclipse with your smartphone.<\/p>\n
Doing so is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you’ve captured an image of the blood Moon you can share online or with family and friends.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, you could end up spending the peak of the event looking down at your phone rather than up at the Moon.<\/p>\n
If you do want to try, here are some tips to help.<\/p>\n
![\"Lunar](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/11.LunarEclipse_JaswinderSinghSidhu.jpg\")
Lunar eclipse with a smartphone, captured by Jaswinder Singh Sidhu, Jagraon, Punjab, India, 7 September 2025. Equipment: vivo iQOO Z9 smartphone, GSO Nightwatch 6\u201d Dobsonian with integrated mount
\nMake the most of your phone’s camera modes<\/p>\n
Your phone’s auto settings are unlikely to be of much help here. Does your phone have a ‘night mode’ or ‘astrophotography mode’ that’s better suited? If not, put your phone into manual or ‘pro’ mode and you’ll be able to tweak the exposure time, ISO, white balance and other settings.<\/p>\n
Stabilise your phone<\/p>\n
If you don’t have a smartphone tripod, see if you can prop it up against a wall or any other stable object: anything that will get your phone sitting steady and avoid moontrailing caused by a shaky hand.<\/p>\n
Use magnification, if you have it<\/p>\n
Did you bring a telescope or a pair of binoculars to observe the lunar eclipse? You could attempt ‘afocal photography’, which is a fancy way of saying ‘pointing your phone’s camera down the eyepiece’. This is tricky, though, and ideally you would use a smartphone telescope adapter. <\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/lunar-eclipse-smartphone.jpg\")
A man uses a smartphone to take picture of a blood moon through telescope during a total lunar eclipse in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, on November 8, 2022. Photo by JUNG YEON-JE\/AFP via Getty Images
\nLock the focus<\/p>\n
Get the Moon centred in your smartphone’s screen, tap on it and hold to lock the focus.<\/p>\n
Tweak your exposure and ISO<\/p>\n
One of the biggest issues in photographing the Moon with a smartphone is over-exposure, when the Moon ends up looking like a featureless white blob.<\/p>\n
At the start of the eclipse, you’ll need a low ISO<\/a> to get the best shot, but as the Moon dims during totality, you should be able to push the ISO up a bit more.<\/p>\n Don’t pinch and zoom<\/p>\n Unless you’re using binoculars or a telescope, the Moon will look tiny in your screen. Resist pinching the screen to zoom in. It’s better to capture the image and then crop and zoom later on your computer, using picture-editing software like Photoshop (paid-for) or GIMP (free).<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/thumbnail17C87A93-36C4-4BEA-8C75-D24044238FE8-fd05fa0.jpg\")
The total lunar eclipse of 8 November 2022 captured by Mirella Di Lorio from South Melbourne, Australia, using an iPhone 13.