South Texas will have a front-row seat as Earth\u2019s shadow covers most of the full moon Thursday night. Here\u2019s when to look\u2014and why no special equipment is needed.<\/p>\n
A deep partial lunar eclipse will unfold over San Antonio and South Texas Thursday night, August 27, reaching its most dramatic point shortly before midnight.<\/p>\n
Although this is technically a partial eclipse, it will come very close to totality. At maximum eclipse, approximately 93% of the moon\u2019s diameter will be inside Earth\u2019s dark central shadow. Only a narrow portion of the lunar surface will remain outside the deepest shadow, according to NASA\u2019s eclipse calculations.<\/p>\n
That means the moon could resemble a total lunar eclipse for casual observers, with much of its surface turning dark red, copper or burnt orange.<\/p>\n
The best time to watch in San Antonio<\/p>\n
The eclipse will last more than five hours, but the first and final stages will be subtle.<\/p>\n
Here is the local timeline for San Antonio:<\/p>\n
8:23 p.m. Thursday: Penumbral eclipse begins. The moon will be low in the east-southeastern sky, and the shading may be difficult to notice.<\/p>\n
9:33 p.m.: Partial eclipse begins. Earth\u2019s dark shadow will begin visibly moving across the moon.<\/p>\n
10:30 p.m.\u2013midnight: Best overall viewing window.<\/p>\n
11:12 p.m.: Maximum eclipse. The moon will be approximately 38 degrees above the southeastern horizon.<\/p>\n
12:51 a.m. Friday: Partial eclipse ends.<\/p>\n
2:01 a.m.: Final faint penumbral shading ends.<\/p>\n
The single best time to step outside will be between 11 and 11:25 p.m. Thursday, centered on the 11:12 p.m. maximum. The moon should be high enough to clear most buildings and trees while displaying the eclipse\u2019s deepest color and greatest shadow coverage.<\/p>\n
Where should you look?<\/p>\n
Look toward the southeastern sky.<\/p>\n
When the partial eclipse begins at 9:33 p.m., the moon will be about 20 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon. Maximum eclipse is at 11:12 p.m. The moonwill have climbed considerably higher in the sky by then.<\/p>\n
A backyard, park, driveway or open field should work. Unlike a meteor shower, this event does not require a completely dark rural location. The full moon is bright enough to see from the middle of the city.<\/p>\n
Try to find a location with:<\/p>\n
A relatively unobstructed view toward the east and southeast<\/p>\n
Minimal cloud cover<\/p>\n
Fewer nearby streetlights, especially for photography<\/p>\n
A safe place to remain outside for at least 30 minutes<\/p>\n
Do you need eclipse glasses?<\/p>\n
No.<\/p>\n
Eclipse glasses are required for viewing a solar eclipse, when people look toward the sun. A lunar eclipse is completely safe to watch with the naked eye because observers are looking at the moon at night.<\/p>\n
Binoculars or a small telescope are optional. They can reveal the curved edge of Earth\u2019s shadow and make the moon\u2019s color variations more noticeable, but no equipment is necessary.<\/p>\n
Why will the moon turn red?<\/p>\n
A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align, allowing Earth\u2019s shadow to fall across the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
The moon does not always turn completely black because some sunlight passes through Earth\u2019s atmosphere before reaching it. The atmosphere scatters much of the shorter blue light while allowing more red and orange wavelengths to continue toward the moon.<\/p>\n
It is essentially the combined light of Earth\u2019s sunrises and sunsets being projected onto the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
The exact color cannot be predicted perfectly. Dust, wildfire smoke, volcanic particles and cloud cover in Earth\u2019s atmosphere can influence whether the moon appears bright orange, deep copper, brick red or unusually dark.<\/p>\n
Why isn\u2019t this a total eclipse?<\/p>\n
The alignment will be close\u2014but not perfect.<\/p>\n
During a total lunar eclipse, the entire moon passes into Earth\u2019s dark inner shadow, called the umbra. Thursday night, a small portion of the moon will remain outside that shadow at maximum eclipse.<\/p>\n
NASA calculates the Earth\u2019s umbra (shadow) will cover roughly 93% of the moon\u2019s diameter. The partial phase will last approximately three hours and 18 minutes. The eclipse will be visible across the Americas and portions of Europe and Africa. It will be the final lunar eclipse of 2026.<\/p>\n
Tips for taking pictures<\/p>\n
A phone can capture the eclipse, but the moon will appear very small unless the camera has optical zoom.<\/p>\n
For better results:<\/p>\n
Stabilize the phone or camera with a tripod.<\/p>\n
Turn off the flash.<\/p>\n
Tap the moon on the screen and reduce the exposure.<\/p>\n
Use optical zoom instead of excessive digital zoom.<\/p>\n
Include a recognizable foreground\u2014such as a tree, skyline or building\u2014to give the image scale.<\/p>\n
Take photographs throughout the evening to document Earth\u2019s shadow moving across the moon.<\/p>\n
The most dramatic pictures will likely come near maximum eclipse, but photographing the changing phases every 15 to 20 minutes can produce an effective eclipse sequence.<\/p>\n
The bottom line<\/p>\n
You do not have to stay outside all night to see the main event.<\/p>\n
Go outside around 11 p.m. Thursday, August 27, look toward the southeast and remain through the 11:12 p.m. maximum. No telescope, filters or protective glasses are required.<\/p>\n
The only major variable will be the weather. Even a few breaks in the clouds could provide a clear look because the eclipse develops slowly and remains near maximum for more than a few minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Texas will have a front-row seat as Earth\u2019s shadow covers most of the full moon Thursday night.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-420903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}