Total lunar eclipse : Tuesday 3 March 2026

In the evening of Tuesday 3 March the Moon will be totally eclipsed by the shadow of the Earth, as illustrated in the diagram below from NASA.

Observers in Sydney* will look to the north east to see the partial eclipse begin at 8:50pm. Totality will begin at 10:04pm and last until 11:03pm when the Earth's shadow will start to leave the Moon. The eclipse finishes at 12:18am (4 March).

This lunar eclipse will be visible right across Australia and New Zealand, note that times differ depending on your location.

It is perfectly safe to watch a lunar eclipse, you don’t need a telescope but if you own binoculars you will enhance the experience. It is also a great opportunity to take photographs. Via this link you can see photographs taken by Sydney City Skywatchers members and observations made at the last lunar eclipse on 8 September, 2026.

Lunar eclipses can only occur during a full moon. However, there isn’t a lunar eclipse every full moon of the month because the Moon’s orbit is tipped about five degrees to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The Moon is either below or above the plane of the Earth’s orbit most of the time.

Total Lunar Eclipse, 8 September 2025, photograph by Toner Stevenson.

Often called a ‘blood’ moon because of the colour of the Moon during totality, a scale called the Danjon Scale is used to grade the darkness of a total lunar eclipse. It is done in points from 0, where the Moon looks almost invisible, to 4 where a bright yellowish orange colour can be seen. The photograph left shows the colour change to a reddish hue, as seen from Observatory Hill, Sydney, at the last lunar eclipse on 8 September 2025.

First Nations Peoples in Australia and the Torres Strait islands observed and recorded eclipses of the Moon as described in the Aboriginal astronomy website.

*The times for Sydney are taken from the Australasian Sky Guide, written by Hon. Professor Nick Lomb, Sydney City Skywatchers member and previous curator of Sydney Observatory, astronomy, horology and meteorology for the Powerhouse.