Home > Astronomical Event, Ephemeris Program, Lunar Eclipse, Observing > Ephemeris: 02/26/2026 – Get ready for next Tuesday morning’s Lunar Eclipse!

Ephemeris: 02/26/2026 – Get ready for next Tuesday morning’s Lunar Eclipse!

February 26, 2026

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, February 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 1 minute, setting at 6:26, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:23. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 5:27 tomorrow morning.

Early next Tuesday morning there will be total lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse, also known as an eclipse of the Moon occurs when the full moon moves into the earth’s shadow, causing it to become much darker. Usually a fair amount of sunlight does get in by being bent around the Earth by its atmosphere through all the sunrises and sunsets going on at that time. The moon’s color generally becomes very dark red, this also depends on the Earth’s atmosphere and the amount of clouds, smoke and volcanic ash that’s in the Earth’s atmosphere at that time. The partial phase will begin at 4:50 AM and will last until totality starts At 6:04 AM totality will last until 7:02 AM. The growing twilight may cause the moon to actually disappear.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Three stages of the total lunar eclipse of March 3rd 2026, ass it might be seen from the Grand Traverse region of Michigan. On the left is about first contact of the umbra, the inner part of the Earth’s shadow and the beginning of the partial phase. The Moon at that time will have a dusky upper left part, as it is deep in the outer shadow of the Earth, called penumbra. The umbra will begin to creep in from that point. In the center, is just before totality. At this point the eclipsed part of the Moon should be a dark red color. The last image is the moon at mid eclipse. However the Moon may not be visible at this point, because the sky is brightening with twilight. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Total Lunar Eclipse March 3, 2026 Events for the Grand Traverse area (Eastern Standard Time)
TimeEvent
03:44 AMBegin Penumbral phase. This is the theoretical start of the eclipse. Nothing will appear to happen until about half an hour before the partial phase starts. Then the upper left part of the Moon will appear to darken.
04:50 AMBegin Partial phase. The umbra will encroach onto the Moon from upper left to lower right. The dull red of the umbral shadow may be discerned near the beginning of totality.
05:40 AMAstronomical Twilight begins. The Sun is 18° below the horizon.
06:04 AMBegin Totality. The expected dull red of the Moon will be brighter on the edge nearest the edge of the umbral shadow. How long will the totally eclipsed Moon be visible?
06:14 AMNautical Twilight begins. The Sun is 12° below the horizon.
06:34 AMMid-Eclipse
07:03 AMEnd Totality. Will a tiny slice of the Moon become visible in the brightening sky before it sets?
07:18 AMSunrise
07:19 AMMoonset

Eclipse event times are strictly convertible by time zone. Twilight, sunrise and moonset events depend on one’s location. For locations west of Michigan, the eclipse may occur completely in darkness.

Categories: Astronomical Event, Ephemeris Program, Lunar Eclipse, Observing