March 2026 lunar eclipse
| Total eclipse | |||||||||||||||||
The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | March 3, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | −0.3765 | ||||||||||||||||
| Magnitude | 1.1526 | ||||||||||||||||
| Saros cycle | 133 (27 of 71) | ||||||||||||||||
| Totality | 58 minutes, 19 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Partiality | 207 minutes, 10 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| Penumbral | 338 minutes, 37 seconds | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
A total lunar eclipse will occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, with an umbral magnitude of 1.1526. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. 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. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. The Moon's apparent diameter will be near the average diameter because it will occur 6.7 days after perigee (on February 24, 2026, at 18:15 UTC) and 6.9 days before apogee (on March 10, 2026, at 9:45 UTC).
This lunar eclipse will be the third of an almost tetrad, with the others being on March 14, 2025 (total); September 8, 2025 (total); and August 28, 2026 (partial).
During the eclipse, the Moon will occult NGC 3423 over North America.: 161