March 3, 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse over The Americas: Shadow Preview

March 3, 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse over The Americas: Shadow Preview

Map showing where the March 3, 2026 lunar eclipse is visible. Contours mark the edge of the visibility region at eclipse contact times, labeled in UTC.

Alignment of the Moon, Earth, and Sun during a lunar eclipse (not to scale).

On March 3, 2025, the Moon enters the Earth's shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse, the first visible in the Americas since March 2025. This animation shows the changing appearance of the Moon as it travels into and out of the Earth's shadow, along with times at various stages. Celestial north is up in this imagery, corresponding to the view from mid-northern latitudes. Rotating the images by 180 degrees would create the south-up view for southern hemisphere observers.

The penumbra is the part of the Earth’s shadow where the Sun is only partially covered by the Earth. The umbra is where the Sun is completely hidden. The Moon's appearance is not affected much by the penumbra. The real action begins when the Moon starts to disappear as it enters the umbra at about 1:50 a.m. Pacific Sstandard Time. An hour and a half later, entirely within the umbra, the Moon is a ghostly copper color. The totally eclipsed Moon is 10 or more f-stops dimmer than a normal full Moon. This is captured in the animation by simulating an abrupt change of exposure near the start and end of totality. Totality lasts for about an hour before the Moon begins to emerge from the central shadow. During the eclipse, the Moon is moving through the constellation Leo.

Learn more here:
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/march-2026-total-lunar-eclipse-your-questions-answered/

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Ernie Wright (USRA): Lead Visualizer
Release Date: Jan. 28, 2026

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