A Total Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and the Moon (in that order) line up and the Moon moves entirely through the Earth’s umbra, the darkest part of its shadow. As well as appearing dark, the Moon appears reddish during maximum eclipse. This is because Earth’s atmosphere bends some of the Sun’s light rays into Earth’s shadow, and because air preferentially scatters the shorter (bluer) wavelengths of that light, it produces a reddening effect while darkening the visible Lunar surface.

Telescope: Planewave Delta Rho 350 f3.0
Mount: Astro Physics 3600GTO “El Capitan”
Camera: ZWO ASI461MM pro / EFW-7
Guider: ZWO OAG-L-68 / ZWO ASI174mm Mini
Filters: Astrodon II 50mm Sq RGB & 5nm H-Alpha

Total Eclipse: RGB. (5s ea.)
Partial Phases: H-Alpha Filter to reduce image brightness.

Data Imaged remotely on March 3 2026.
Data acquisition & Processing by David Churchill.

Total Lunar Eclipse of 2026 March 3

Greatest Eclipse: 11:33:37.0 UT.
Umbral Magnitude: 1.1507
Saros Series: 133, Member: 27 of 71

Eclipse Contacts: P1: 08:44:22 UT. U1: 09:50:00 UT. U2: 11:04:26 UT. U3: 12:02:45 UT. U4: 13:17:10 UT, P4: 14:22:59 UT.
Eclipse Durations: Penumbral: 05h 38m 37s, Umbral: 03h 27m 10s, Total: 00h 58m 19s