|
Credit & Copyright: Gwenaöl Blanck
Explanation:
Eclipses tend to come in pairs.
Twice a year, during an eclipse season that lasts
about 34 days, Sun, Moon, and Earth can nearly align.
Then the new and full
phases of the Moon,
separated by just over 14 days, create a solar and a lunar eclipse.
But only rarely is the alignment at both new moon and full moon
during a single eclipse season close enough
to produce a pair with both total solar and lunar eclipses.
More often, partial eclipses are part of any eclipse season.
But, the last eclipse season of 2026 did produce
this fortnight-separated pairing of a
total solar eclipse
on August 12 (top)
and an almost
total lunar eclipse on the night of August 27/28.
At New Moon, the solar eclipse was captured
at Peöafiel, Spain
near the begining of totality in
this HDR composite image,
revealing a flash of
Bailey's beads
and a
golden solar corona.
At the following Full Moon,
the deep partial lunar eclipse
was recorded from Sövres, France.
Also an HDR composite, the image shows
this partial eclipse at closer
to half its 93 percent maximum phase, so
about half the visible lunar disk appears darkened and reddened
within Earth's umbral shadow.
The coming
eclipse season
will see an annular solar eclipse on 2027 February 6
paired with a penumbral lunar eclipse on February 20/21.
Growing Gallery:
Lunar Eclipse of 2026 August 28
APOD's main NASA site is
moving:
From apod.nasa.gov to
science.nasa.gov/apod
|
January February March April May June July August |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: lunar eclipse - solar eclipse
Publications with words: lunar eclipse - solar eclipse
See also: