Updated

Updated · Space.com · Aug 29

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Will Dim Feb. 20, 2027 Snow Moon as Deeper 2028 Blood Moon Waits

Updated

Updated · Space.com · Aug 29

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Will Dim Feb. 20, 2027 Snow Moon as Deeper 2028 Blood Moon Waits

Q: Following the dramatic August 2026 Blood Moon, why will the upcoming 2027 eclipse be nearly invisible to the naked eye?

It will be nearly invisible because the Feb. 20, 2027 event is only a penumbral lunar eclipse, not a deep partial or total eclipse. The Moon will pass only through Earth’s faint outer shadow, the penumbra, and miss the dark inner shadow, the umbra, entirely. That difference matters. In the dramatic August 2026 eclipse, about 96% of the Moon’s disk entered the umbra, producing a strong darkening and the reddish “Blood Moon” effect caused by sunlight filtered through Earth’s atmosphere. In February 2027, there is no umbral contact at all — eclipse tables list an umbral magnitude of -0.0569 — so there will be no dark “bite” taken out of the Moon and no vivid red coloration. Instead, observers will see only a slight dimming, strongest near the Moon’s north polar region, around maximum eclipse at about 6:12 p.m. EST (2312–2313 UT). Even then, the shading will be very faint and hard to detect with the naked eye, especially without comparing it to a normal full Moon. Astronomy sources note that penumbral eclipses are often easy to miss because the penumbra still allows much of the Sun’s light to reach the Moon. Binoculars or a telescope may help reveal the subtle darkening, but this will be a quiet, low-contrast event rather than the striking spectacle seen in August 2026.

Q: 2027 features five total eclipses, so why are all three lunar events hiding in Earth’s faint outer shadow?

Because eclipse types depend on geometry, not the yearly total count. In 2027, the Moon reaches full phase during three eclipse seasons, but in each case its path only skims Earth’s shadow, missing the umbra and entering only the penumbra. The key reason is the Moon’s orbit is tilted about 5 degrees to Earth’s orbital plane. Most full moons pass above or below Earth’s shadow entirely. Eclipses happen only when a full moon occurs near one of the orbit’s nodes, where the paths line up. In 2027, those alignments are not close enough for any full moon to cut into the dark central shadow. The numbers confirm that. The Feb. 20, 2027 eclipse has an umbral magnitude of -0.0569, meaning the Moon misses the umbra completely; its penumbral magnitude is 0.9266, so much of the disk enters only the faint outer shadow. The July 18 event is even slighter, with penumbral magnitude 0.0014, essentially a near-miss. The Aug. 17 eclipse is also penumbral, with umbral magnitude -0.5254, again well outside the umbra. That does not contradict 2027 having five eclipses overall. Those five include two solar eclipses — an annular eclipse on Feb. 6 and a total solar eclipse on Aug. 2 — plus the three lunar eclipses. Solar and lunar eclipses are driven by different monthly alignments: new moon for solar, full moon for lunar. In 2027, the new moons line up well enough for dramatic solar events, while the full moons do not.

3 articles · Updated · Space.com · Aug 29

Feb. 20, 2027 will bring the next lunar eclipse, when Earth’s penumbral shadow lightly dims the full Snow Moon rather than producing a dramatic partial or total event.
6:12 p.m. EST (2312 GMT) marks maximum eclipse, with the faintest darkening expected near the moon’s north polar region as Earth’s umbra misses the lunar disk entirely.
The effect will be far subtler than August’s crimson partial eclipse, making photography and side-by-side comparison with a normal full moon the clearest way to spot the change.
December 2028 is the next major lunar spectacle, when a total lunar eclipse on New Year’s Eve is expected to turn the moon into a full Blood Moon over Asia, Australia and the Pacific.