Deep partial lunar eclipse to be visible across the Americas Thursday night

A deep partial lunar eclipse will begin Thursday night and reach its maximum just after midnight EDT, covering roughly 96% of the Moon’s surface. The event will be visible to billions of people across the Americas, as well as parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, provided the sky is clear.

The eclipse will last more than three hours in its partial phase, and the entire passage through Earth’s shadow will span about five and a half hours. Nearly one-billion people in the United States, Canada, and Central and South America will be able to watch the full eclipse, while more than three billion worldwide could see at least part of it.

"This is a great time to be part of the space program, right? We’re not slowing down," astronaut Jack Hathaway said from the International Space Station.

Astronauts aboard the ISS and China’s Tiangong space station will also have a view of the event. Space station commander Jessica Meir noted that space offers a “unique perspective” for observing phenomena such as eclipses and auroras.

The eclipse follows a total solar eclipse that occurred two weeks earlier over Greenland, Iceland and Spain, illustrating the typical pairing of solar and lunar eclipses when the Sun, Moon and Earth align precisely. The next total lunar eclipse will not occur until New Year’s Eve 2028, with the following one visible from the Americas slated for 2029.