And the clouds parted! Lunar eclipse observations, 3 March 2026.

On 3 March Sydney City Skywatchers members gathered at Sydney Observatory to observe the total lunar eclipse with around seven hundred keen observatory visitors, who also gathered for the spectacle. There was much chat and sharing of experiences, our members enjoy volunteering at events held at Sydney Observatory. The Powerhouse astronomy curator and staff had a livestream to Nagoya, Japan, but they too had heavy cloud cover, although it did clear for them as the night progressed.

At first the cloud cover was thick and occasional raindrops were felt. But we were keen and we assembled telescopes and cameras in high anticipation of at least a glimpse of the Moon in eclipse. There were glimpses every now and then but clouds persisted, and persisted in the eastern sky. Left to right in the images below are our society secretary, Elizabeth Cocking, with Susan Berdo, in the centre image Christopher Marjo (standing) and Robert Luxford, and on the right, Nishant Gambani, one of our newest members.

But at 9:00pm we became very hopeful, as holes appeared in the clouds and we started to see the partially eclipsed Moon tantalisingly emerge as you can see in the far left image below. Then at 9:17pm our hopes really lifted as there was only a thin misty cloud and a minute later we could see the red Moon clearly, still in partial eclipse as you can see in the central image below. By 10:10pm the totally eclipsed appeared clear and visible, a dark brown/red colour and a smile appeared on the face of all the observers. Images above and below by Toner Stevenson.

We were also able to get brief glimpses of Jupiter, Sirius, Orion and the Orion Nebula, and the pointers of the Southern Cross. Many more stars and planets emerged as the sky cleared during total eclipse.

Some of our members watched from their homes, as you can see in the far left and centre image below by Ann Cairns, and on the right Serge managed to catch an image of the Moon as the Earth's shadow moved away.

Anupam Kumar captured some very interesting colour in his crisp images below.

This excerpt from Garry Dalrymple's report describes his experience from his sidewalk observatory:

Before 9 pm - The words that no Astronomer wants to hear, before starting an observation ‘It’s Not Looking Good’, were very much on my mind when I was considering if tonight would produce a good show.

After 9 pm, I looked out every twenty or so minutes, to see cloud, cloud and more cloud. At least it wasn’t raining.  By a few minutes to 10pm, some cloud had shifted a little rather than lifted, so I was definitely able to see the remaining and shrinking crescent of illuminated Moon that showed that Totality was about to begin.   I remained outside and observed until about 11.15 pm, pausing only to bring out two modest sized refractor telescopes and a chair. I was joined by one of the local residents as I was trying to view Jupiter, through the rest of the cloud, while we waited for glimpses of the Moon and shows of colour.

Colour – I would say that the Moon in Totality offered a very washed-out Yellow-ish Ashy Orange, with one side much more illuminated than the rest.     I do not think that the predicted ‘Blood Moon’ was realised at all.

Conclusions – The night was a qualified success.

© Garry Dalrymple, Wednesday March 4, 2026   

The next total lunar eclipse visible from Sydney is not until 1 January 2029.

A big thank you to Elizabeth Cocking for organising this members outreach event with the event organiser and Observatory Manager, and to the Powerhouse Executive and staff who are supportive of our affiliated society.