en August 2026 lunar eclipse

August 2026 lunar eclipse
Partial eclipse
	The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left
Date	August 28, 2026
Gamma	−0.4694
Magnitude	0.9319
Saros cycle	138 (30 of 83)
Partiality	198 minutes, 7 seconds
Penumbral	337 minutes, 46 seconds
P1
Contacts (UTC)
P1	1:23:55
U1	2:33:48
Greatest	4:12:49
U4	5:51:55
P4	7:01:41
	← March 2026 February 2027 →

A partial lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Friday, August 28, 2026,^[1] with an umbral magnitude of 0.9319. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when one part of the Moon is in the Earth's umbra, while the other part is in the Earth's penumbra. 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. Occurring about 6 days after perigee (on August 22, 2026, at 4:20 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.^[2]

This lunar eclipse will be the last of an almost tetrad, with the others being on March 14, 2025 (total); September 8, 2025 (total); and March 3, 2026 (total).

Visibility

The eclipse will be completely visible over North and South America, seen rising over the central Pacific Ocean and setting over Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.^[3]

Eclipse details

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

August 28, 2026 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	1.96645
Umbral Magnitude	0.93187
Gamma	0.49644
Sun Right Ascension	10h26m57.9s
Sun Declination	+09°42'52.7"
Sun Semi-Diameter	15'50.0"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.7"
Moon Right Ascension	22h26m06.3s
Moon Declination	-09°18'03.6"
Moon Semi-Diameter	15'18.2"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	0°56'09.9"
ΔT	72.3 s

Eclipse season

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 August 2026
August 12 Descending node (new moon)	August 28 Ascending node (full moon)

Total solar eclipse Solar Saros 126	Partial lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 138

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses of 2024–2027

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 138

Lunar saros series 138 has 26 total eclipses between September 7, 2044 and March 24, 2369. The longest eclipse will be on January 7, 2243, and last for 102 minutes.

Partial eclipses will occur between June 24, 1918 and August 13, 2603. Penumbral eclipses will occur between October 15, 1521 and March 30, 2982. ^[5]

Metonic series

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.

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

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).^[6] This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 145.