Look to the skies on Thursday evening, Aug. 27 and you will get to witness a rare celestial phenomenon as a lunar eclipse will be viewable in middle Tennessee.

The Penumbral eclipse begins at 8:23 p.m. CDT (subtle shading, hard to notice initially). The Partial eclipse begins at 9:33 p.m. (a dark bite appears taken out of the Moon) The Maximum Eclipse begins at 11:12 p.m. (around middle TN 93% of the Moon is covered in Earth’s dark shadow). The Partial eclipse ends 12:52 a.m. CDT (on August 28). The Penumbral eclipse ends at 2:02 a.m. (on August 28). The entire thing will last 339 minutes with 199 of those minutes will see the Moon in the Earth’s dark shadow.

The eclipse will be at the crest of the full Sturgeon Moon making viewing even more dynamic. During the eclipse about 93% of the moon will enter Earth’s dark umbral shadow. For the most part, the August 27-28, 2026, lunar eclipse will look like total lunar eclipse of the moon. There may even be the red glow of totality and bright white patch along the moon’s northeastern rim.

No special equipment is needed to view the eclipse but there needs to be a degree of meteorological luck as clear skies are a key to getting to view the event. For most of North America, this will be the last near total eclipse until June 25-26, 2029 when a total lunar eclipse is expected.