Skywatchers across Essex will have a deep partial lunar eclipses visible in the early hours of Friday, August 28, with around 93 per cent of the moon passing through Earth’s darkest shadow at maximum. The penumbral phase begins at 2.23am, giving early risers the first clear marker of the event.
The eclipse is expected to be visible across Essex and much of the UK, weather permitting, and the main phases will occur at roughly the same time across the UK. The moon’s position in the sky and the time it sets below the horizon will vary by location, so the best view will depend on where observers are standing and whether the sky stays clear.
Essex and the UK at 2.23am
Royal Museums Greenwich says the moon will take on a reddish or copper hue during the eclipse because sunlight passing through Earth’s atmosphere is scattered and refracted toward the lunar surface. That colour change is part of the same geometry that makes a deep partial lunar eclipses noticeable even when the moon is not fully swallowed by shadow.
The timing matters for Essex because the eclipse begins before dawn, when the moon’s height above the horizon can change quickly from one part of the UK to another. A viewer in one area may keep the moon in sight longer than someone farther west or east, even though the main phases unfold at roughly the same time nationwide.
Royal Museums Greenwich and August 12
The event comes just weeks after a rare partial solar eclipse on August 12, when more than 90 per cent of the sun was obscured by the Moon. Royal Museums Greenwich says that eclipse was the most significant of its kind above UK skies since the solar eclipse of 1999.
That short gap between the August 12 event and Friday’s lunar eclipses gives Essex observers an unusual run of sky events in a single month. For readers planning to watch, the practical choice is simple: find an open view of the sky before 2.23am, and check that local cloud cover will not block the moon at the critical moment.
North and South America, Africa, Europe
The same eclipse will also be visible from North and South America, Africa, and other parts of Europe, making it a shared overnight event rather than one limited to Essex or the UK. The broad footprint is what gives this lunar eclipses its reach, but the useful detail for Essex remains the same: the clearest viewing window starts in the early hours of Friday, August 28.
For anyone in Essex, the next step is to watch the sky before the penumbral phase at 2.23am and be ready for a brief or extended view depending on cloud cover and horizon position. The event will reward those who can stay up for the early hours, because the moon’s shadowed face will be at its deepest as the eclipse reaches maximum.
