Total Lunar Eclipse of December 20, 2029
A blood Moon for all of Europe and Africa and parts of North America, South America and Asia
On Thursday, December 20, 2029 (UT) the Moon passes fully into Earth's shadow for 53 min 42 s, turning a coppery red. Maximum is at 22:42 UT. Anyone who can see the Moon sees the same eclipse at the same moment: the only questions are whether the Moon is above your horizon and what your clock says.
Computed on a 2° grid from the Moon's altitude (JPL DE440) at NASA's contact times. At the edges of the shaded area the Moon is low, rising or setting during the eclipse.
Times for your city
| Phase | Local time (CST) | Moon height |
|---|---|---|
| Penumbral eclipse begins | 03:43 | 49° |
| Partial eclipse begins | 04:55 | 34° |
| Totality begins | 06:15 | 18° |
| Maximum | 06:42 | 12° |
| Totality ends | 07:08 | 7° |
| Partial eclipse ends | 08:28 | below horizon |
| Penumbral eclipse ends | 09:41 | below horizon |
Search about 7,000 cities: every city over 100,000 people, plus the 1,075 cities on this site.
How the eclipse unfolds
- 19:43 UTPenumbral eclipse begins
- 20:55 UTPartial eclipse begins
- 22:15 UTTotality begins
- 22:42 UTMaximum
- 23:08 UTTotality ends
- 00:28 UTPartial eclipse ends
- 01:41 UTPenumbral eclipse ends
Times in UT. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse happens at the same moment for everyone who can see the Moon; only the local clock time differs.
The world's biggest cities
where the Moon is up| City | Partial | Total | Maximum | Total ends | Partial ends | Moon at max | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 1° | CST |
| Chongqing China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 12° | CST |
| Chengdu China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 15° | CST |
| Beijing China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 8° | CST |
| Guangzhou China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 4° | CST |
| Shenzhen China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 3° | CST |
| Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo | 21:55 | 23:15 | 23:42 | 00:08 | 01:28 | 62° | WAT |
| Istanbul Turkey | 23:55 | 01:15 | 01:42 | 02:08 | 03:28 | 70° | UTC+3 |
| Lagos Nigeria | 21:55 | 23:15 | 23:42 | 00:08 | 01:28 | 67° | WAT |
| Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam | 03:55 | 05:15 | 05:42 | 06:08 | 07:28 | 5° | UTC+7 |
| Tianjin China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 7° | CST |
| Wuhan China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 6° | CST |
| Lahore Pakistan | 01:55 | 03:15 | 03:42 | 04:08 | 05:28 | 40° | PKT |
| Xi’an China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 12° | CST |
| Mumbai Maharashtra, India | 02:25 | 03:45 | 04:12 | 04:38 | 05:58 | 39° | IST |
| São Paulo Brazil | 17:55 | 19:15 | 19:42 | 20:08 | 21:28 | 10° | UTC−3 |
| Hangzhou China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 2° | CST |
| Karachi Pakistan | 01:55 | 03:15 | 03:42 | 04:08 | 05:28 | 46° | PKT |
| Delhi India | 02:25 | 03:45 | 04:12 | 04:38 | 05:58 | 37° | IST |
| Moscow Russia | 23:55 | 01:15 | 01:42 | 02:08 | 03:28 | 54° | MSK |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 02:55 | 04:15 | 04:42 | 05:08 | 06:28 | 24° | UTC+6 |
| Seoul South Korea | 05:55 | 07:15 | 07:42 | 08:08 | 09:28 | below horizon | KST |
| Harbin China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 4° | CST |
| Dongguan China | 04:55 | 06:15 | 06:42 | 07:08 | 08:28 | 4° | CST |
Local times (24-hour clock). Greyed times: the Moon is below the horizon then.
United States, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand
| City | Partial | Total | Maximum | Total ends | Partial ends | Moon at max | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York United States | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 12° | EST |
| Chicago Illinois, United States | 14:55 | 16:15 | 16:42 | 17:08 | 18:28 | 3° | CST |
| Philadelphia Pennsylvania, United States | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 11° | EST |
| Jacksonville Florida, United States | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 2° | EST |
| Columbus Ohio, United States | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 5° | EST |
| Charlotte North Carolina, United States | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 5° | EST |
| Indianapolis Indiana, United States | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 3° | EST |
| Washington District of Columbia, United States | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 9° | EST |
| London England, United Kingdom | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 58° | GMT |
| Birmingham England, United Kingdom | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 56° | GMT |
| Glasgow Scotland, United Kingdom | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 52° | GMT |
| Manchester England, United Kingdom | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 55° | GMT |
| Sheffield England, United Kingdom | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 55° | GMT |
| Leeds England, United Kingdom | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 55° | GMT |
| Edinburgh Scotland, United Kingdom | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 53° | GMT |
| Liverpool England, United Kingdom | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 55° | GMT |
| Toronto Ontario, Canada | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 9° | EST |
| Montréal Quebec, Canada | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 14° | EST |
| Ottawa Ontario, Canada | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 12° | EST |
| Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 1° | EST |
| Mississauga Ontario, Canada | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 9° | EST |
| Brampton Ontario, Canada | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 9° | EST |
| Hamilton Ontario, Canada | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 9° | EST |
| Québec Quebec, Canada | 15:55 | 17:15 | 17:42 | 18:08 | 19:28 | 16° | EST |
| Dublin Ireland | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 54° | GMT |
| Cork Ireland | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 54° | GMT |
| Limerick Ireland | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 53° | GMT |
| Galway Ireland | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 53° | GMT |
| Tallaght Ireland | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 54° | GMT |
| Waterford Ireland | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 54° | GMT |
| Drogheda Ireland | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 53° | GMT |
| Dundalk Ireland | 20:55 | 22:15 | 22:42 | 23:08 | 00:28 | 53° | GMT |
Watching it
We do not forecast the weather, and no one can this far ahead. Whether you see it will depend on the clouds on the day: check a local forecast a few days before and be ready to travel to a clearer sky. For long-term cloud statistics along eclipse paths, see the climatology by meteorologist Jay Anderson at eclipsophile.com.
Questions
Where is the total lunar eclipse of December 20, 2029 visible?
From all of Europe and Africa and parts of North America, South America and Asia: everywhere the Moon is above the horizon during the eclipse. See the map and the city tables for local times.
Can I see it from the United States?
Yes: from 295 of our 520 US cities, 138 of them for the whole totality.
Why does the Moon turn red?
Sunlight passing through Earth's atmosphere is bent into the shadow and loses its blue light on the way, as at sunset. That reddened light is all that reaches the Moon. How dark or bright the red is depends on clouds and volcanic dust in Earth's atmosphere.
Is it safe to watch?
Yes. A lunar eclipse is completely safe to watch with your eyes, binoculars or a telescope.
Will it be cloudy?
We do not forecast the weather. Check a local forecast a day or two before.
Eclipse predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC: NASA Eclipse Web Site, Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses and Catalog of Lunar Eclipses (Espenak & Meeus): Besselian elements, path of totality tables and lunar contact times. City times are computed by us from those Besselian elements with the standard method (Meeus, Elements of Solar Eclipses), using a current estimate of ΔT (Earth-rotation correction) instead of the Canon's older extrapolation; they agree with NASA's own calculator to 0.1 s and with an independent Skyfield/JPL DE440 computation to within 15 s. Times are for sea level and ignore the lunar limb profile (a few seconds near the path edges). Moon altitudes: Skyfield with JPL DE440, corrected for parallax. City coordinates: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).