On the morning of the 8th September 2025 is the best Lunar eclipse ever! It lasts for over an hour.
At 3.30am AEST it commences. I have already set my alarm.
Even the weather is looking good, the last Lunar Eclipse was a real fizzer with clouds covering the sky but this one looks promising with warm sunny days either side.
You will have to check for when it occurs in your locality but the Moon is right in the middle of the Earth’s shadow hence it lasts so long.
It will be around 7pm here in the UK - I’ll have to set my alarm to see if I can catch it
When is the lunar eclipse?
The last total lunar eclipse visible from the UK occurred in 2022.
The penumbral phase – when the Moon first drifts into Earth’s faint outer shadow – begins at 16:28 BST (17:28 UTC).
The partial eclipse – as the Moon enters Earth’s darker central shadow, called the umbra – kicks off at 17:27 BST (18:27 UTC).
The eclipse reaches its maximum at around 19:11 BST, about 20 minutes before moonrise in the UK, giving us time - weather permitting - to see it in at least some of its scarlet glory before it gradually moves out of Earth’s shadow.
Dr Edward Bloomer, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich said: "In the UK we won’t get to see perhaps the most dramatic reddening that you get with lunar eclipses… and most people will have to wait another 10 to 20 minutes after moonrise for it to clear the horizon.
“But it’s worth watching because you get to see the mechanics of the solar system at play,” he said. “This is not a special effect. There’s nothing else it could be - this must be what’s happening in real life in front of you.”
Thanks for the heads up. It will start at 7:30 PM and hit full around 9:30 here in Dubai. I’m looking forward to it. I need to figure out where best to watch it.
I’ll do that Foxy, at about 8pm, don’t forget we’re an hour ahead of you! We probably won’t get the whole party, we may miss part of the beginning too.
I just hope I’m able to set up the telescope, I’ll have to get my son to do it before he goes out.
there have been some spectacular full moons in the last couple of weeks. I have never seen the moon so close. I suppose it happens regularly in some parts of the world.