The New Year’s Eve total lunar eclipse of 31 December 2028

A blood moon for the new year

For 72 minutes the whole Moon sits inside Earth’s dark shadow and turns a copper or brick-red colour. The light that reaches it has passed through Earth’s atmosphere, where every sunrise and sunset on the planet filters out the blue, so the Moon glows with the colour of a sunset. Our guide to why the Moon turns red explains the details.

The date makes this eclipse unusual. Across Europe, totality comes in the early evening of New Year’s Eve, just after moonrise. In East Asia and Australia it falls in the small hours of New Year’s Day, after the fireworks.

Where to see the eclipse of 31 December 2028

The whole of totality is visible from most of Europe except Iberia, from northern and eastern Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. In London, Paris and Berlin the Moon rises in the late afternoon already partly eclipsed and turns red within an hour, low in the north-east. Dubai and Delhi see it later in the evening, and in Beijing, Tokyo and Sydney after midnight.

North and South America miss it, because the eclipse happens there in daytime. Only Hawaii catches the start of totality, low in the west before dawn.

How to watch from Europe

With the Moon so low in Europe, the horizon matters. Choose a place with an open view to the north-east, such as a hill, a beach or a high floor. A rising red Moon above a city skyline is one of the easiest eclipse photos to take, and the timing leaves plenty of evening for the New Year celebrations.

Eclipse times

Universal Time. Add your own time zone offset, or use the city table below.

Local times in major cities

“Whole” means the Moon stays above the horizon for the entire totality; “Part” means it rises or sets during it.