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Stunning photos reveal the ‘blood moon’ total lunar eclipse

Don’t worry if you missed Tuesday’s total lunar eclipse. These images show the celestial marvel from around the world

a dark red moon

The “blood moon” lunar eclipse on March 3, 2026, in Los Angeles.

Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images

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Early on Tuesday, a “blood moon” total lunar eclipse made our typically pearlescent moon appear a fiery crimson in what was the first and only total lunar eclipse of 2026.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes directly between the sun and moon. As the star’s light filters through Earth’s atmosphere, it casts a red hue onto the lunar surface that looks much like the shades of a sunset. In case you missed it, photographers across the world captured the moon flushed red.

a faint moon behind buildings

The blood moon over buildings in Manila.

Ted Aljibe/Getty Images


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The eclipse was at least partially visible to sky-gazers across Asia and Australia, as well as North and South America. For those able to see it, the period of “totality,” or when the moon was fully covered in Earth’s shadow, reportedly lasted almost one hour.

red moon above buildings

The blood moon, as seen from Havana, Cuba.

Yamil Lage/Getty Images

The next total lunar eclipse isn’t due until New Year’s Eve in 2028, but Earth will experience a total solar eclipse this August. Look to the skies on August 12 to see the moon pass entirely in front of the sun, casting a dark shadow over parts of Greenland, the Arctic, Portugal and Spain. A partial lunar eclipse will also be visible starting on August 27.

nine moons cross diagonally across the image

A multiexposure composite image of the blood moon in Auckland, New Zealand.

Phil Walter/Getty Images

Jackie Flynn Mogensen is a breaking news reporter at Scientific American. Before joining SciAm, she was a science reporter at Mother Jones, where she received a National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communications in 2024. Mogensen holds a master’s degree in environmental communication and a bachelor’s degree in earth sciences from Stanford University. She is based in New York City.

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