Penumbral lunar eclipse of 20 February 2027
The Moon only crosses the Earth's outer shadow, the penumbra: it dims slightly, at best a faint shading on one edge. Many people notice nothing.
Where it is visible
The Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia. Greatest eclipse at 23:13 UT.
From your city
London, United Kingdom · the largest city of your country, as a starting point
Any town of 1,000 people or more, anywhere in the world.
Penumbral, greatest at 23:13, Moon at 46°, a faint shading, easy to miss
Saturday 20 February 2027 · Local time in London (UTC+0)
Timeline
What it looks like from London
Penumbra in21:12 · 35° Penumbral22:12 · 41° Greatest23:13 · 46° Penumbral0:13 · 47° Penumbra out1:14 · 45°
Zenith at the top, facing the Moon, as with the naked eye or binoculars.
How these drawings are made
Each drawing is computed for this city and the minute under it: where the Earth's shadow falls on the Moon (Astronomy Engine's model: the Earth's radius plus 88 km of atmosphere, the convention that matches NASA's contact times), turned as the Moon stands in this city's sky.
The penumbra is drawn as the faint shading it is: the eye notices it only in its deepest part, next to the umbra. While part of the Moon is still lit, the umbra looks dark grey.
At totality the Moon is drawn a dark red-brown. The real colour changes from one eclipse to the next, from bright copper to almost black (the Danjon scale, L0 to L4), and cannot be predicted: it depends on the dust and clouds in the Earth's atmosphere that night.
Up is the zenith as you face the Moon. An astronomical telescope turns the view upside down, or mirrors it if it has a diagonal.
Details
| Moment | Time | Moon's altitude |
|---|---|---|
| Penumbra begins | 21:12 | 35° |
| Greatest | 23:13 | 46° |
| Penumbra ends | 1:14 | 45° |
Cities: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).
What you will actually see, and with what
A lunar eclipse is safe to look at with the naked eye, from start to finish: it is the full Moon, dimmed.
10×50 binoculars: what they show, and what they cost
Binoculars show the colour and the edge of the shadow better than the eye. A 10×50 pair magnifies 10 times, with 50 mm lenses and a 5 mm exit pupil: steady enough to hand-hold, bright enough for a darkened Moon.
A penumbral eclipse is the faintest kind: at greatest, a light grey shading on one side of the Moon. Without knowing, most people would notice nothing.
City by city
Computed when this page was built, in each city's local time. Your own city, any city, is in the box above.
| City | What it sees |
|---|---|
| Lisbon | Penumbral, greatest at 23:13, Moon at 53°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Madrid | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 55°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Paris | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 49°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Lyon | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 52°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Marseille | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 55°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Brussels | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 47°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Geneva | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 52°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Zurich | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 51°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Luxembourg | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 49°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| London | Penumbral, greatest at 23:13, Moon at 46°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Edinburgh | Penumbral, greatest at 23:13, Moon at 41°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Dublin | Penumbral, greatest at 23:13, Moon at 43°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Amsterdam | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 46°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Berlin | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 47°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Rome | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 57°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Athens | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 1:13, Moon at 60°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Bucharest | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 1:13, Moon at 53°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Warsaw | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 0:13, Moon at 47°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Helsinki | Night of 20–21 February: penumbral, greatest at 1:13, Moon at 38°, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| Montreal | Penumbral, greatest at 18:13, Moon at 7°, the Moon rises at 17:24, during the eclipse, the Sun is still up: a pale Moon in a bright sky, a faint shading, easy to miss |
| New York | Penumbral, greatest at 18:13, Moon at 6°, the Moon rises at 17:32, during the eclipse, the Sun is still up: a pale Moon in a bright sky, a faint shading, easy to miss |
NASA's map
