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March 2026 lunar eclipse

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March 2026 lunar eclipse
Total eclipse
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
DateMarch 3, 2026
Gamma−0.3765
Magnitude1.1526
Saros cycle133 (27 of 71)
Totality58 minutes, 19 seconds
Partiality207 minutes, 10 seconds
Penumbral338 minutes, 37 seconds
Contacts (UTC)
P18:44:22
U19:50:00
U211:04:26
Greatest11:33:37
U312:02:45
U413:17:10
P414:22:59

A total lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Tuesday, March 3, 2026,[1] with an umbral magnitude of 1.1526. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. The Moon's apparent diameter will be near the average diameter because it will occur 6.7 days after perigee (on February 24, 2026, at 18:15 UTC) and 6.9 days before apogee (on March 10, 2026, at 9:45 UTC).[2]

This lunar eclipse will be the third of an almost tetrad, with the others being on March 14, 2025 (total); September 8, 2025 (total); and August 28, 2026 (partial).

Visibility

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The eclipse will be completely visible over northeast Asia, northwestern North America, and the central Pacific Ocean, seen rising over much of Asia and Australia and setting over North and South America.[3]

Eclipse details

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Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.[4]

March 3, 2026 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter Value
Penumbral Magnitude 2.18580
Umbral Magnitude 1.15263
Gamma −0.37651
Sun Right Ascension 22h56m56.0s
Sun Declination -06°43'06.4"
Sun Semi-Diameter 16'08.0"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 08.9"
Moon Right Ascension 10h56m15.0s
Moon Declination +06°24'05.3"
Moon Semi-Diameter 15'37.0"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax 0°57'18.7"
ΔT 72.1 s

Eclipse season

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See also: Eclipse cycle

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.

Eclipse season of February–March 2026
February 17
Ascending node (new moon)
 March 3
Descending node (full moon)
Annular solar eclipse
Solar Saros 121		 Total lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 133
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Eclipses in 2026

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Metonic

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Tzolkinex

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Half-Saros

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Tritos

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Lunar Saros 133

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Inex

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Triad

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Lunar eclipses of 2024–2027

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Lunar eclipse series sets from 2024–2027
Descending node   Ascending node
Saros Date Type
Viewing 		Gamma Saros Date
Viewing 		Type
Chart 		Gamma
113
 2024 Mar 25
 Penumbral
 1.06098 118
 2024 Sep 18
 Partial
 −0.97920
123 2025 Mar 14
 Total
 0.34846 128 2025 Sep 07
 Total
 −0.27521
133 2026 Mar 03
 Total
 −0.37651 138 2026 Aug 28
 Partial
 0.49644
143 2027 Feb 20
 Penumbral
 −1.04803 148 2027 Aug 17
 Penumbral
 1.27974
Last set 2023 May 05 Last set 2023 Oct 28
Next set 2028 Jan 12 Next set 2027 Jul 18

Saros 133

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This lunar eclipse is part of series 133 of the Saros cycle, which repeats every 18 years and 11 days. Series 133 runs from the year 1557 until 2819. The previous eclipse of this series occurred on 21 February 2008 and the next will occur on 13 March 2044.

It is the 7th of 21 total lunar eclipses in series 133. The first was on 28 December 1917. The last (21st) will be on 3 August 2278. The longest two occurrences of this series (14th and 15th) will last for a total of 1 hour and 42 minutes on 18 May 2152 and 30 May 2170. Solar saros 140 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.

Metonic series

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The Metonic cycle repeats nearly exactly every 19 years and represents a Saros cycle plus one lunar year. Because it occurs on the same calendar date, the Earth's shadow will be in nearly the same location relative to the background stars.

  1. 1988 Mar 03.675 – Partial (113)
  2. 2007 Mar 03.972 – Total (123)
  3. 2026 Mar 03.481 – Total (133)
  4. 2045 Mar 03.320 – Penumbral (143)
  1. 1988 Aug 27.461 – partial (118)
  2. 2007 Aug 28.442 – total (128)
  3. 2026 Aug 28.175 – partial (138)
  4. 2045 Aug 27.578 – penumbral (148)

Inex series

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The inex series repeats eclipses 20 days short of 29 years, repeating on average every 10571.95 days. This period is equal to 358 lunations (synodic months) and 388.5 draconic months. Saros series increment by one on successive Inex events and repeat at alternate ascending and descending lunar nodes.

This period is 383.6734 anomalistic months (the period of the Moon's elliptical orbital precession). Despite the average 0.05 time-of-day shift between subsequent events, the variation of the Moon in its elliptical orbit at each event causes the actual eclipse time to vary significantly. It is a part of Lunar Inex series 35.

Series events from 1500–2500
Descending node Ascending node Descending node Ascending node
Saros Date
Chart 		Saros Date
Chart 		Saros Date
Chart 		Saros Date
Chart
115 1505 Feb 18
 116 1534 Jan 30
 117 1563 Jan 9 118 1591 Dec 30
119 1620 Dec 9 120 1649 Nov 19 121 1678 Oct 29 122 1707 Oct 11
123 1736 Sep 20 124 1765 Aug 30 125 1794 Aug 11 126 1823 Jul 23
127 1852 Jul 1 128 1881 Jun 12 129 1910 May 24
 130 1939 May 3
131 1968 Apr 13
 132 1997 Mar 24
 133 2026 Mar 3
 134 2055 Feb 11
135 2084 Jan 22
 136 2113 Jan 2 137 2141 Dec 13 138 2170 Nov 23
139 2199 Nov 2 140 2228 Oct 14 141 2257 Sep 24 142 2286 Sep 3
143 2315 Aug 16 144 2344 Jul 26 145 2373 Jul 5 146 2402 Jun 16
147 2431 May 27 148 2460 May 5
 149 2489 Apr 16

Half-Saros cycle

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A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).[5] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 140.

February 26, 2017 March 9, 2035

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "March 2–3, 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2026 Mar 03" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2026 Mar 03". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  5. ^ Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros
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