🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
The United States is extremely well placed for this eclipse, particularly the eastern and central parts of the country.
For New York and the U.S. East Coast, the timing is wonderfully civilised by eclipse standards because the event begins during the evening rather than requiring everyone to stagger outside at four in the morning wearing a coat over their pyjamas.
Eastern Daylight Time – EDT
Penumbral begins: August 27 at approximately 9:23 PM
Partial eclipse begins: approximately 10:33 PM
Maximum eclipse: August 28 at approximately 12:12 AM
Partial eclipse ends: approximately 1:51 AM
Penumbral eclipse ends: approximately 3:01 AM
This is excellent.
You can watch Earth’s shadow begin eating into the Moon before midnight, see maximum eclipse just after midnight, and still pretend you made a responsible life choice the following morning.
Central Daylight Time – CDT
Penumbral begins: approximately 8:23 PM
Partial begins: approximately 9:33 PM
Maximum: approximately 11:12 PM
Partial ends: approximately 12:51 AM
Penumbral ends: approximately 2:01 AM
Mountain Daylight Time – MDT
Penumbral begins: approximately 7:23 PM
Partial begins: approximately 8:33 PM
Maximum: approximately 10:12 PM
Partial ends: approximately 11:51 PM
Pacific Daylight Time – PDT
The eclipse begins relatively early in the evening, and local Moon rise and twilight conditions become more important, so western observers should check exact local circumstances rather than relying only on converted UTC times.
⭐ Best advice for U.S. observers: Find a location with an unobstructed view of the Moon, and if you own binoculars, bring them. You do not need a telescope to enjoy this eclipse.
🇨🇦 CANADA
Canada also gets an excellent opportunity to watch the eclipse, although conditions vary considerably from east to west.
Atlantic Daylight Time – ADT
Penumbral begins: approximately 10:23 PM, August 27
Partial begins: approximately 11:33 PM
Maximum: approximately 1:12 AM, August 28
Partial ends: approximately 2:51 AM
Penumbral ends: approximately 4:01 AM
Eastern Daylight Time – EDT
Penumbral begins: approximately 9:23 PM
Partial begins: approximately 10:33 PM
Maximum: approximately 12:12 AM
Partial ends: approximately 1:51 AM
Penumbral ends: approximately 3:01 AM
Central Daylight Time – CDT
Maximum eclipse occurs at approximately 11:12 PM on August 27.
Mountain Daylight Time – MDT
Maximum occurs at approximately 10:12 PM.
Pacific Daylight Time – PDT
Maximum occurs at approximately 9:12 PM, although Moon altitude, moonrise and twilight need to be checked for your specific city.
Eastern Canada gets particularly comfortable nighttime viewing.
🇬🇧 UNITED KINGDOM
The United Kingdom can see part of the eclipse, but this is where geography begins becoming annoying.
Maximum eclipse occurs at approximately:
5:12 AM BST
By this stage the Moon is getting low toward the western horizon, while morning twilight is beginning to interfere.
Observers should find a location with an extremely clear western or southwestern horizon.
Do not choose a lovely dark field only to discover at 5 AM that there is a hill exactly where the Moon is trying to set.
For Britain, this is an event where elevation and horizon clearance matter almost as much as cloud.
🇮🇸 ICELAND
And here we are again.
Honestly, Iceland, what did we do to deserve August 2026?
Just sixteen days after the total solar eclipse crosses western Iceland and Reykjavík, the country gets an excellent view of this deep partial lunar eclipse.
For Reykjavík, the timings are:
🌑 Penumbral eclipse begins
1:23 AM
The Moon is approximately 15° above the southern horizon.
🌑 Partial eclipse begins
2:33 AM
This is when the event becomes unmistakable as Earth’s dark umbral shadow begins moving across the lunar surface.
🌑 Maximum eclipse
4:12 AM
The Moon is approximately 9.5° above the southwestern horizon.
At this point almost the entire lunar disc is immersed in Earth’s shadow.
This is the moment I would absolutely set the alarm for.
🌑 Partial eclipse ends
5:51 AM
By now the Moon is extremely low, only around 2° above the west-southwestern horizon.
🌕 Moonset
Approximately 6:16 AM
The final penumbral stage continues after the Moon has set from Reykjavík.
This means your location matters.
For maximum eclipse, look southwest.
As the eclipse progresses toward its end, the Moon moves lower toward the west-southwest.
If I were choosing a Reykjavík viewing location, I would prioritise an open coastal or elevated location with nothing blocking the southwestern and western horizon.
And because this is Iceland, I would also have three backup locations and check the cloud forecast approximately fourteen thousand times.
