Total Lunar Eclipse of March 3, 2026

East Asia, Australia and the Pacific saw the whole eclipse; western North America caught totality before dawn, while for eastern North America the Moon set while still eclipsed.

This eclipse has already happened; we keep its page for the record. It closed a run of three total lunar eclipses in twelve months, following March and September 2025, with the Moon crossing the umbra for about an hour of totality over the Pacific hemisphere.

Global timeline (UTC)

A lunar eclipse happens at the same instant for everyone; only your clock and your Moon's position differ. Convert from UTC, or use the location panel below to check whether the Moon is up at each stage for you.

What a total lunar eclipse is

In a total lunar eclipse the full Moon passes completely inside Earth's umbra, the dark core of our planet's shadow. Sunlight bent through Earth's atmosphere still reaches the Moon and paints it a deep copper red, the blood Moon. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is visible from the entire night side of Earth at once and is completely safe to watch with no equipment at all.

Frequently asked questions

When was the total lunar eclipse of March 2026?

Greatest eclipse came on March 3, 2026 at 11:33 UTC. What an observer saw depended on where they stood; the location panel on this page still computes any spot's local timeline.

Where was the March 2026 lunar eclipse visible?

East Asia, Australia and the Pacific saw the whole eclipse; western North America caught totality before dawn, while for eastern North America the Moon set while still eclipsed.

Is it safe to watch a lunar eclipse?

Completely. A lunar eclipse is just the full Moon passing through Earth's shadow; it needs no filters or equipment. Binoculars simply make it better.

What is a Saros series?

Eclipses repeat in families called Saros series: 6,585.3 days (about 18 years 11 days) after any eclipse, the Sun, Moon and lunar nodes return to nearly the same geometry and produce a near-copy shifted a third of the way around Earth. This eclipse belongs to Saros series 133. Our Saros cycle profile explains the whole mechanism.

Keep exploring: the Eclipse Control Center for a live console on this eclipse as it happens, the Eclipse Explorer for any date and location, our Saros cycle profile for why eclipses repeat, its longer partners the inex and the exeligmos that together sort every eclipse into families, the eclipse year of 346 days that sets the rhythm of eclipse seasons, and how eclipses work from first principles.

Other eclipses on the calendar

Every eclipse below is engine-verified against the same catalog, so the times are directly comparable.