Where And How To Watch August’s 2026 Blood Lunar Eclipse

What a month it’s been for stargazers. Earlier in August, we had an impressive partial solar eclipse, followed by one of the most active nights of the days-long Perseid meteor shower.

And in the wee hours of Friday, 28 August, we’re set to see yet another partial eclipse in parts of the UK – only this time, it’s a lunar kind.

The “sturgeon moon” will appear to have a pinkish glow before the lunar event, too.

That’s just the nickname given to August’s full moon. It’s so called because the fish’s populations thrive around this time of year in North America, where the moniker began.

It’s also nicknamed the grain moon, the red moon, and the green corn moon.

Sometimes, a full moon appears pinkish or even red. That’s called a “blood moon” (I guess that makes this one a “blood sturgeon moon”).

“Blood moons” occur when the Earth’s “umbra”, or the shadow of its centre, gets in the way of our view of the celestial body.

When that happens, the light on the moon gets filtered through the Earth’s atmosphere.

Shorter wavelengths, which we perceive as deeper colours like blue, scatter more quickly than longer ones, like red and orange.

That means redder hues show up on the moon’s surface during the eclipse.

In this case, the shadow that’ll appear from our view of the moon during the eclipse will lead to this tint.

A partial lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon. That casts the shadow we mentioned earlier and makes it look like the moon has had a “bite” taken out of it.

The exact time depends on your location. The most visible part of Friday’s eclipse will begin at 03:33 BST and end at 06:51 BST, though the moon will no longer be visible in the UK by that point.

The time of greatest eclipse – when that “bite” will appear biggest – is 05:13 BST.

Weather matters, with the most helpful conditions expected in eastern and south-eastern parts of England (Northern Ireland and western Scotland might have suitably clear skies, too).

Still, BBC Sky At Night points out that the UK is in a relatively good spot overall here. The phenomenon will only be visible from North and South America, the UK, Europe and West Africa.

If you want to boost your odds of seeing the partial eclipse, go to a high spot with uninterrupted views of the south-western horizon.

Don’t fancy a 5am wake-up call on a weeknight? There are plenty of livestreams to choose from, which thankfully will be available for rewatches during the more humane hours of the day.