{"id":479549,"date":"2026-02-20T08:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/479549\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T08:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:30:10","slug":"when-is-the-next-lunar-eclipse-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/479549\/","title":{"rendered":"When is the next lunar eclipse? \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first of two 2026 lunar eclipses will occur on March 3.The total eclipse will cast a red tint as the moon falls into Earth’s shadow.Utah observers will be in prime viewing area, weather permitting.<\/p>\n

While only a handful of Antarctic scientists were in the right spot for prime viewing of a stunning annular solar eclipse earlier this week, Utahns, along with millions of other Terra Prime residents will have front-row seats for a total lunar eclipse on March 3, as long as the weather cooperates.<\/p>\n

A lunar eclipse<\/a> occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align so that the moon passes into Earth\u2019s shadow, according to NASA<\/a>. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire moon falls within the darkest part of Earth\u2019s shadow, called the umbra. When the moon is within the umbra, it appears red-orange. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called \u201cBlood Moons\u201d because of that phenomenon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show will start officially just before 2 a.m. MST when the moon enters Earth\u2019s rather faint and fuzzy outer shadow,\u201d NASA\/JPL Solar System Ambassador to Utah Patrick Wiggins explained in a press release.<\/p>\n

Wiggins noted there won\u2019t be much to see until about 2:50 a.m. that morning when the moon enters the dark part of Earth\u2019s shadow. For Utah observers, the moon will be about half way up the southwestern sky at that point. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut the main event will start at 4:04 a.m. when the entire moon will be engulfed in the dark part of Earth\u2019s shadow and totality begins,\u201d Wiggins said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On March 3, totality will be visible in the evening from eastern Asia and Australia, throughout the night in the Pacific and in the early morning in North and Central America and far western South America, according to NASA. A partial eclipse will be seen from central Asia and much of South America and no eclipse will be visible in Africa or Europe.<\/p>\n

Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses occur at the same time regardless of geographic location. Also, lunar eclipses can be viewed without eye protection and NASA suggests binoculars or a telescope to enhance the view. The best viewing conditions are in a dark environment away from bright lights.<\/p>\n

The moon appears red or orange during a lunar eclipse because any sunlight that\u2019s not blocked by Earth is filtered through a thick slice of the planet\u2019s atmosphere on its way to the lunar surface, according to NASA. It\u2019s as if all the world\u2019s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the moon.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to expect:<\/p>\n

Penumbral eclipse begins, 1:44 a.m. MST:\tThe moon enters the Earth\u2019s penumbra, the outer part of the shadow. While the moon begins to dim, it will be quite subtle.<\/p>\n

Partial eclipse begins, 2:50 a.m. MST: The moon begins to enter the Earth\u2019s umbra and partial eclipse begins. To the naked eye, it will appear as if a bite is being taken out of the lunar disk.<\/p>\n

Totality begins, 4:04 a.m. MST: The entire moon will now fall within the Earth\u2019s umbra. The moon will likely appear a tinted, coppery red. Try binoculars or a telescope for a better view. If you want to take a photo, use a camera on a tripod with exposures of at least several seconds.<\/p>\n

Totality ends, 5:03 a.m. MST: As the moon exits Earth\u2019s umbra, the red color will fade. It looks as if a bite is being taken out of the opposite side of the lunar disk from before.<\/p>\n

Partial eclipse ends, 6:17 a.m. MST: The whole moon will be in Earth\u2019s penumbra, but again, the dimming will be subtle.<\/p>\n

Eclipse ends, 7:23 a.m. MST: Eclipse ends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first of two 2026 lunar eclipses will occur on March 3.The total eclipse will cast a red…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[5817,8793,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-479549","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-news-division","9":"tag-news-feed-national","10":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}