Science and education

Home page

2 solar and 2 lunar eclipses expected worldwide in 2026, partial lunar eclipse briefly visible from Azerbaijan

20 November 2025 13:13 (UTC +04:00)

There will be 2 solar and 2 lunar eclipses in 2026, Department of Astrophysics of the Faculty of Physics of Baku State University (BSU) told APA.

First solar eclipse of 2026 will occur on February 17.

This eclipse will be a repeat of the annular solar eclipse that occurred on February 7, 2008. The next similar eclipse will occur on February 28, 2044.

The partial eclipse began at 13:56:14 and will end at 18:27:30. The eclipse will last approximately 4 hours and 31 minutes. The maximum of the eclipse will occur at 16:11:45 and the maximum duration will be 2 minutes and 20 seconds. The central eclipse began at 15:42:38 and will end at 16:41:21. When the Moon is further from the Earth, the apparent angle is smaller than the angle of the Sun, so during a central eclipse, the Moon does not completely cover the Sun's surface, and a bright ring-like ring forms around the Moon. The eclipse that occurs at this time is called an annular solar eclipse. The average length of the Moon's shadow is 373,320 km, but on February 17, 2026, the Moon's distance from the Earth will be 387,663 km. Therefore, the Moon's shadow will not reach the Earth's surface. As a result, the Moon will cover only 0.963 of the Sun's disk, and a thin bright ring of the Sun will be visible. During an annular eclipse, this bright ring of the Sun does not allow you to see the Sun's corona and stars located near the Sun. The annular eclipse will be observed in Antarctica and the southern waters of the Indian Ocean. Partial eclipse phases will be observed in almost all of Antarctica (except for the coastlines facing New Zealand), as well as in southern Chile and Argentina, South Africa, Madagascar, central and southern Botswana (except for the western and northwestern regions), Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, southern Tanzania, as well as in the southern zone of the Atlantic Ocean and the southwestern and southern parts of the Indian Ocean. The eclipse will not be observed from the territory of Azerbaijan.

The 2nd solar eclipse of the year will occur on August 12, 2026

The 2nd solar eclipse of the year will occur on August 12, 2026. This eclipse is a total solar eclipse. The eclipse is a repeat of the total solar eclipse that occurred on August 1, 2008. The next similar eclipse will occur on August 23, 2044.
The partial eclipse will begin at 19:34:01 and end at 23:57:48. The eclipse will last approximately 4 hours and 24 minutes. The maximum of the eclipse will occur at 21:46:06. The central eclipse will begin at 20:57:54 and end at 22:30:01. During a total eclipse, the Moon's shadow cone intersects the Earth's surface (the Moon is close enough to the Earth to completely cover the Sun). The average length of the Moon's shadow is 373,320 km. On August 12, 2026, the distance between the Earth and the Moon will be 359,445 km. In this case, the apparent diameter of the Moon will be 1.0386 times larger than the apparent diameter of the Sun's disk. The eclipse will be observed in northern North America, northwestern Africa, and Europe. The total eclipse will be observed only in Greenland, Iceland, Portugal, Spain, and the city of Krasnoyarsk in Russia. The total eclipse will last a maximum of 2 minutes and 18 seconds. The eclipse will not be observed from the territory of Azerbaijan.

The first Lunar eclipse of 2026 will occur on March 3

The first lunar eclipse of 2026 will occur on March 3. It will be a total lunar eclipse. The Earth's shadow will completely cover the Moon, making it appear reddish in the sky. This event is accompanied by the "blood moon" effect, and the reason for this is that the Earth's atmosphere filters the sunlight, allowing red-orange rays to reach the Moon's surface. In fact, the Earth's shadow consists of two parts: the penumbra and the umbra. When the Moon enters the penumbra, a penumbra lunar eclipse begins, which is very difficult to feel with the naked eye. When the Moon enters the Earth's shadow, an eclipse visible to the naked eye begins. The penumbra lunar eclipse will begin at 12:44:25, the partial lunar eclipse at 13:50:00, and the total eclipse at 15:04:26. The total eclipse will last about 58 minutes. The maximum of the eclipse will be at 15:33:46. The total eclipse will occur at 16:02:45, the partial eclipse at 17:17:10, and the penumbral lunar eclipse will end at 18:22:59.
This eclipse, which will be visible from Asia, Australia, and North America, is the last total lunar eclipse until the "Blood Moon" eclipse that will occur on December 31, 2028 - January 1, 2029. Since the Moon will be below the horizon during the eclipse, it will not be observed from the territory of Azerbaijan.

The 2nd Lunar Eclipse of 2026 Will Occur on August 28

The 2nd Lunar Eclipse of 2026 will occur on August 28. This time, the Moon will pass through only part of the Earth's shadow, and a partial eclipse will be observed. One part of the Moon will be darkened, while the other part will remain illuminated. The penumbral lunar eclipse will begin on August 28 at 05:23:55, the partial eclipse at 06:33:48. The maximum of the eclipse will be at 08:12:53. The partial eclipse will end at 09:51:55, and the penumbral lunar eclipse will end at 11:01:41.

The eclipse will be visible from Europe, Africa, Asia and America. It will be possible to observe only part of the penumbral lunar eclipse from the territory of Azerbaijan from 05:23 to 05:55 in the morning - until moonset.