🌞 🌏 🌕 LUNAR ECLIPSE: 27–28 August 2026 (Thursday–Friday)

There will be a lunar eclipse coming up on Thursday–Friday night, 27–28 August 2026. It will be visible all across North America, weather permitting, and it’s a prefect way to wrap up the homeschool year! This eclipse will be almost (but not quite) total, and so should be very easy to see — be sure to take your homeschool scientists outside for a look!

For the exact timing of the eclipse in your area, visit the timeanddate.com eclipse page and enter your city or zipcode at the top of the page:

• ➢ Lunar Eclipse, 27–28 August 2026 (timeanddate.com)

This is a partial eclipse, but it is a deep partial eclipse, meaning the earth’s darkest shadow will cover more than 50% of the moon’s face, so it will be very easy to see. It will begin about 10:33 p.m. in the eastern U.S. timezone (Thursday night), with maximum coverage occurring about 12:10 a.m. eastern (Friday morning).

If you can’t make it outside or if the weather is poor in your area, timeanddate.com will also be livestreaming this eclipse, so if it’s too cloudy or too rainy or too cold or too hot, you and your homescholars can spend a successful eclipse-viewing night indoors in cozy comfort:

• ➢ Lunar Eclipse Livestream, 27–28 August 2026 (timeanddate.com)

(The video below will go live shortly before the eclipse begins.)

Timeanddate.com also has a handy little primer on how lunar eclipses occur (and solar eclipses too), so you’ll be ready to teach a great little lesson. 🌞 🌏 🌕

What other celestial sights and astronomical alignments have you and your students investigated in your homeschool this Hercules Term? 🔭

❡ Remembrance of eclipses past: We have watched quite a few eclipses together in the River Houses, both solar and lunar. You can review (and rewatch!) many of them on the timeanddate.com website: 12 August 2026 (total solar), 13–14 March 2025 (total lunar); 17–18 September 2024 (partial lunar); 14 October 2023 (annular solar); 7–8 November 2022 (total lunar); 15–16 May 2022 (total lunar); 18–19 November 2021 (partial lunar); 2 July 2019 (total solar); and 20–21 January 2019 (total lunar). 🌞 🌕

❡ All the star-sown sky: Teaching your students the major constellations and the names of the brightest stars is one of the simplest and most enduring gifts you can give them. Our recommended backyard star guide and homeschool world atlas both contain charts of the constellations that will help you learn your way around the heavens. Find a dark-sky spot near you this month and spend some quality homeschool time with your students beneath the starry vault. ✨

❡ Star bright: If you’d like some light and easy homeschool astronomy lessons, download and print a copy of our annual Stars & Constellations Calendar and follow along with us month by month as we make twelve heavenly friends-for-life over the course of the year. 🌟

❡ Watchers of the skies: This is one of our regular Homeschool Astronomy posts. Subscribe to our free River Houses newsletter to get more great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox every week. 🔭

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓️

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