The March 3 total lunar eclipse has come and gone, stunning skywatchers around the world with a stunning display of orbital mechanics as the lunar disk plunged into Earth’s umbra, turning it into a crimson blood moon.
ONE total lunar eclipse occurs as Earth goes between the moon and the sun under one full moon phase. No direct sunlight can reach the lunar surface during totality, as the lunar disc passes through the deepest part of the planet’s shadow, known as its umbra. Instead, the moon is flooded with sunlight that has been filtered out Earth’s atmosphere – which is adept at scattering blue light while allowing longer red wavelengths to pass relatively unimpeded – causing it to take on a rusty, blood-red color.
Read on to see a selection of fascinating photos from March 3 blood moon and don’t forget to check out our total lunar eclipse live blog if you’re looking for a recap of yesterday’s spectacular event.
Spectacular images of the 2026 total lunar eclipse
Our first image of the eclipsed Moon was taken by Phil Walter as it hung in the sky above Auckland, New Zealand, as Earth’s shadow began its tentative creep across the western edge of the lunar disk during the partial phase. Remember: Images of the Moon taken from the Southern Hemisphere appear “upside down” compared to what viewers in the Northern Hemisphere are used to seeing, while images taken near the equator are more likely to show the Moon resting on its side.
Ted Aljibe captured another striking image of the lunar disk as it glowed orange over the city of Manila in the Philippines. The striking color here is not a result of the eclipse, but rather the lunar disk’s proximity to the horizon in the period immediately after moonrise, when the reflected sunlight must make a long journey through the Earth’s atmosphere, which scatters blue light.
The same moon was spotted just minutes later from Beijing, China by photographer Fred Lee. The lunar sea Mare Crisium (Sea of Crisis) is just visible as a dark circular feature on top of the sunlit lunar disk, where lava flooded a network of impact craters over a billion years ago, before solidifying into a vast basaltic plain.
Lee also took a wide-angle shot of the moon as direct sunlight illuminated a thin crescent of its outer disk, just minutes before the onset of totality, while Beijing’s skyline stretched out below, pouring light into the night sky. Sunlight refracting through Earth’s atmosphere can already be seen softly illuminating the shadowed part of the lunar disc, making the lunar maria visible to the naked eye.
The moon took on an ominous red hue as it slipped into the deepest part of Earth’s umbral shadow. Tayfun Coskun captured the lunar disk shortly after totality began, documenting the deep orange-red color of its surface. A patch of bluish light can also be seen on the lower edge of the lunar disc. This fleeting phenomenon, sometimes known as the “turquoise band”, occurs when red light is scattered by the ozone layer in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, making the blue wavelengths of light through to bend towards the moon’s surface, according to time and date.
Ezra Acayan captured a brilliant image of the blood moon as it glowed through a gap in the clouds over the city of Santa Rosa in the Philippines, while faint stars vied for attention nearby.
Acayan combined multiple images into a stunning composite display, revealing the sweeping progress of Earth’s shadow in impressive detail during the partial and total phases of the blood moon eclipse.
Astrophotographer Keith Odendahl captured a beautifully detailed image of the fully eclipsed moon as it glowed in the sky above the town of Price, Utah. Bright streaks known as ejecta rays can be seen extending away from young impact craters in Odendahl’s image, whose existence testifies to the incredible power unleashed in their creation.
Trần Hữu Thịnh captured another beautifully composed image of the total and waning phases of the blood moon eclipse as it unfolded over Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on March 3, just after sunset for that part of the world.
Tang Chhin, meanwhile, captured an image of the waning phase of the eclipse, when Earth’s curved shadow slipped from the lunar disk, revealing the ancient lava plains of Mare Imbrium, Procellarum, Nubium, and Humorum. The 51-mile (82-kilometer) Tycho impact crater can also be seen, dominating the brighter right side of the lunar portrait.
Finally, Lauren DeCicca took this gorgeous image of the uneclipsed lunar disk from Chiang Mai, Thailand on March 3rd.
With the Martian blood moon in the rearview mirror, you’ll have to wait New Year’s Eve 2028 for the next total lunar eclipse. Fortunately, there’s still plenty more eclipse action to come this year, including one spectacular total solar eclipse on August 12which will see the path of totality fall over Greenland, Iceland and Spain when the lunar disk completely blocks the face of our parent star.
Hoping to catch a glimpse of the total on August 12th solar eclipse? Then you have to pick up a pair quality eclipse glasses to protect your eyesfor example, the model listed above, or if you want a closer look, you could choose one set of specialized solo balls.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com readers, please send your photos, comments, and name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
