Countdown to
The Next Lunar Eclipse
A lunar eclipse is Earth's shadow falling across the full moon.
Today is the Lunar Eclipse.
110 days until the Next Lunar Eclipse, on Saturday, February 20, 2027.
The Next Lunar Eclipse is Saturday, February 20, 2027. Happens irregularly, on dates taken from NASA's eclipse catalog.Provisional date — not yet officially confirmed.
A lunar eclipse is the mirror image of a solar one: instead of the Moon shadowing Earth, Earth slides between the Sun and a full moon and casts its own shadow across the lunar face. As the Moon moves deeper into that shadow it doesn’t go black; during totality it often turns a dusky copper-red — the “blood moon” — lit only by sunlight bent through the rim of Earth’s atmosphere, the combined glow of every sunrise and sunset on the planet at once.
How we get this date. Like solar eclipses, lunar eclipses recur on an irregular schedule that no simple yearly rule can capture, so the countdown reads the next date from a hand-verified table drawn from NASA’s eclipse catalog rather than computing it. The countdown above shows the next entry, and the upcoming-dates table below lists the ones after it.
Safe to watch, and hemisphere-wide. Unlike a solar eclipse, there is nothing dangerous about a lunar eclipse — it is simply the full moon in shadow — so it needs no filters and no special equipment. And because the event happens on the Moon itself, everyone on the night side of Earth sees it at the same time, rather than along a narrow track. A total lunar eclipse can also stretch on for hours from first to last contact, far longer than the fleeting minutes of a total solar eclipse.
A timezone note. The dates in our table are given in Universal Time, and a lunar eclipse can span local midnight. An eclipse that peaks after midnight UT may unfold on the previous evening across the Americas, so a local calendar might file it under either date.
🌕 Fun facts about the Next Lunar Eclipse
- A lunar eclipse happens at full moon, when Earth lines up between the Sun and Moon and drapes its shadow across the lunar face.
- During totality the Moon often glows deep red — the "blood moon" — because the only light reaching it is sunlight bent through Earth's atmosphere, the combined glow of every sunrise and sunset at once.
- Lunar eclipses come in three types: in a total eclipse the whole Moon turns copper-red, in a partial one Earth's dark shadow takes a bite out of its face, and in a penumbral one the Moon only dims slightly, often too subtly to notice.
- Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is completely safe to watch with the naked eye and is visible all at once to everyone on the night side of Earth — no special track or glasses needed.
- A total lunar eclipse can last for hours from first to last shadow contact, far longer than the few minutes of totality in a solar eclipse.
Upcoming Lunar Eclipse dates
| Date | Days away |
|---|---|
| 110 days | |
| 258 days | |
| 288 days | |
| 436 days | |
| 612 days |
Frequently asked
When is the next lunar eclipse?
The countdown above and the upcoming-dates table show the next dates from our table. Lunar eclipses come in total, partial and penumbral types, and they differ a lot in how dramatic they look.
How is the lunar-eclipse date calculated?
Like solar eclipses, lunar eclipses recur irregularly and can't be pinned to a simple yearly rule, so we read the next date from a hand-verified table drawn from NASA's eclipse catalog rather than computing it.
Why does the Moon turn red during an eclipse?
When the Moon is inside Earth's shadow, the only sunlight reaching it has been bent and filtered through our atmosphere, which scatters away blue light and lets red pass. It is, in effect, lit by the glow of all of Earth's sunrises and sunsets at once.
Is it safe to look at a lunar eclipse?
Yes, completely. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is just the full moon in shadow, so it is safe to watch with the naked eye, binoculars, or a telescope — no filters required.