{
  "id": 3238271,
  "title": "Summer Is Ending With a 'Blood Moon' Lunar Eclipse. Here's What To Know.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/summer-is-ending-with-a-blood-moon-lunar-eclipse-heres-what-to-know",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-25T10:00:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Time",
    "slug": "time",
    "url": "https://time.com/article/2026/08/25/blood-moon-lunar-eclipse-how-to-watch/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Aug. 27 evening will bring a rare celestial event, visible to 3.6 billion people – approximately 44.4% of the world's population. This event is a blood moon lunar eclipse, where 96% of the full moon will be engulfed by Earth's shadow, casting a deep orange-red glow upon the lunar surface. Lunar eclipses only occur during a full moon when Earth is positioned between the sun and the moon, blocking or partly blocking the solar light.\n\nLunar eclipses occur roughly two to three times per year, but total lunar eclipses, when the moon is fully shadowed, happen only about 29% of the time. The blood moon appearance is caused by sunlight filtering through Earth's atmosphere, with blue wavelengths being absorbed or scattered, leaving predominantly the red spectrum to light up the moon.\n\nTypically, a lunar eclipse should happen monthly; however, the moon's orbit is tilted about five degrees compared to Earth's orbit around the sun. This tilt causes the moon to avoid the Earth's shadow on some passages, thus not every lunar passage leads to an eclipse.\n\nThe Aug. 27 eclipse will last for five hours and 38 minutes, starting on the evening of Aug. 27 and into the early hours of Aug. 28. Observers in Europe, Africa, North and South America, and western Asia will be able to witness the event; however, depending on the location, the moon may set before or rise after the eclipse has begun.\n\nThe eclipse consists of three phases - the penumbral, partial, and total phases. The penumbral phase, when the moon enters the faint outer reaches of Earth's shadow, will last for one hour and ten minutes. The partial phase, as the Earth's shadow begins to cover the lunar disk, will follow, taking one hour and 39 minutes. The total or maximum phase, when the moon is 96% hidden within Earth's shadow, will also last for one hour and 39 minutes, occurring at 12:12 a.m. ET. After this, the phases will reverse as the moon leaves Earth's shadow.",
  "summary": "What to know about the Aug. 27 eclipse.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}