Total Lunar Eclipse of December 31, 2028

A blood Moon for all of Europe and Asia, most of Oceania and parts of Africa

On Sunday, December 31, 2028 (UT) the Moon passes fully into Earth's shadow for 1 h 11 min, turning a coppery red. Maximum is at 16:52 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.

Date (UT)

December 31, 2028

Maximum

16:52 UT

Type

Total

Totality

1 h 11 min

Partial phases

3 h 28 min

Umbral magnitude

1.2463

Saros

125

Whole of totalityPart of totalityOnly the faint penumbral phaseNot visible (Moon below the horizon)

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

Your city

Shanghai, China

Whole eclipse visible

Maximum 00:52 on Mon 1 Jan local time · Moon 75° up

Phase	Local time (CST)	Moon height
Penumbral eclipse begins	22:03	65°
Partial eclipse begins	23:07	77°
Totality begins	00:16	81°
Maximum	00:52	75°
Totality ends	01:27	68°
Partial eclipse ends	02:36	54°
Penumbral eclipse ends	03:40	41°

Search about 7,000 cities: every city over 100,000 people, plus the 1,075 cities on this site.

How the eclipse unfolds

14:03 UTPenumbral eclipse begins
15:07 UTPartial eclipse begins
16:16 UTTotality begins
16:52 UTMaximum
17:27 UTTotality ends
18:36 UTPartial eclipse ends
19:40 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	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	75°	CST
Chongqing China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	84°	CST
Chengdu China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	82°	CST
Beijing China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	72°	CST
Guangzhou China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	85°	CST
Shenzhen China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	84°	CST
Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo	16:07	17:16	17:52	18:27	19:36	below horizon	WAT
Istanbul Turkey	18:07	19:16	19:52	20:27	21:36	22°	UTC+3
Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam	22:07	23:16	23:52	00:27	01:36	77°	UTC+7
Tianjin China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	72°	CST
Wuhan China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	81°	CST
Lahore Pakistan	20:07	21:16	21:52	22:27	23:36	59°	PKT
Xi’an China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	79°	CST
Mumbai Maharashtra, India	20:37	21:46	22:22	22:57	00:06	57°	IST
Hangzhou China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	77°	CST
Karachi Pakistan	20:07	21:16	21:52	22:27	23:36	52°	PKT
Delhi India	20:37	21:46	22:22	22:57	00:06	62°	IST
Moscow Russia	18:07	19:16	19:52	20:27	21:36	29°	MSK
Dhaka Bangladesh	21:07	22:16	22:52	23:27	00:36	74°	UTC+6
Seoul South Korea	00:07	01:16	01:52	02:27	03:36	68°	KST
Harbin China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	62°	CST
Tokyo Japan	00:07	01:16	01:52	02:27	03:36	59°	JST
Dongguan China	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	84°	CST
Cairo Egypt	17:07	18:16	18:52	19:27	20:36	22°	EET

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
Honolulu Hawaii, United States	05:07	06:16	06:52	07:27	08:36	4°	HST
Anchorage Alaska, United States	06:07	07:16	07:52	08:27	09:36	14°	AKST
Juneau Alaska, United States	06:07	07:16	07:52	08:27	09:36	5°	AKST
Kahului Hawaii, United States	05:07	06:16	06:52	07:27	08:36	2°	HST
London England, United Kingdom	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	7°	GMT
Birmingham England, United Kingdom	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	6°	GMT
Glasgow Scotland, United Kingdom	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	7°	GMT
Manchester England, United Kingdom	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	7°	GMT
Sheffield England, United Kingdom	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	7°	GMT
Leeds England, United Kingdom	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	7°	GMT
Edinburgh Scotland, United Kingdom	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	7°	GMT
Liverpool England, United Kingdom	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	6°	GMT
Prince George British Columbia, Canada	08:07	09:16	09:52	10:27	11:36	below horizon	MST
Sydney New South Wales, Australia	02:07	03:16	03:52	04:27	05:36	19°	AEDT
Melbourne Victoria, Australia	02:07	03:16	03:52	04:27	05:36	19°	AEDT
Brisbane Queensland, Australia	01:07	02:16	02:52	03:27	04:36	22°	AEST
Perth Western Australia, Australia	23:07	00:16	00:52	01:27	02:36	33°	AWST
Adelaide South Australia, Australia	01:37	02:46	03:22	03:57	05:06	24°	ACDT
Gold Coast Queensland, Australia	01:07	02:16	02:52	03:27	04:36	22°	AEST
Newcastle New South Wales, Australia	02:07	03:16	03:52	04:27	05:36	19°	AEDT
Sunshine Coast Queensland, Australia	01:07	02:16	02:52	03:27	04:36	23°	AEST
Dublin Ireland	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	4°	GMT
Cork Ireland	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	2°	GMT
Limerick Ireland	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	3°	GMT
Galway Ireland	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	3°	GMT
Tallaght Ireland	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	4°	GMT
Waterford Ireland	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	3°	GMT
Drogheda Ireland	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	5°	GMT
Dundalk Ireland	15:07	16:16	16:52	17:27	18:36	5°	GMT
Auckland New Zealand	04:07	05:16	05:52	06:27	07:36	2°	NZDT
Christchurch New Zealand	04:07	05:16	05:52	06:27	07:36	below horizon	NZDT
Wellington New Zealand	04:07	05:16	05:52	06:27	07:36	below horizon	NZDT
Manukau City New Zealand	04:07	05:16	05:52	06:27	07:36	2°	NZDT
Hamilton New Zealand	04:07	05:16	05:52	06:27	07:36	1°	NZDT
Tauranga New Zealand	04:07	05:16	05:52	06:27	07:36	1°	NZDT
Dunedin New Zealand	04:07	05:16	05:52	06:27	07:36	below horizon	NZDT
Lower Hutt New Zealand	04:07	05:16	05:52	06:27	07:36	below horizon	NZDT

Watching it

Safe to watch. A lunar eclipse is just the Moon in Earth's shadow: look as long as you like, with your eyes, binoculars or a telescope. No filter is needed.

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 31, 2028 visible?

From all of Europe and Asia, most of Oceania and parts of Africa: 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 4 of our 520 US cities, 2 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.

← Total solar eclipse, Jul 22, 2028 Partial solar eclipse, Jan 14, 2029 →All eclipses Eye safety

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).