Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2026 August 29
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                                Eclipse Pair
               Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Gwenaël Blanck

   Explanation: [5]Eclipses tend to come in pairs. Twice a year, during an
   eclipse season that lasts about 34 days, Sun, Moon, and Earth can
   nearly align. Then the new and full [6]phases of the Moon, separated by
   just over 14 days, create a solar and a lunar eclipse. But only rarely
   is the alignment at both new moon and full moon during a single eclipse
   season close enough to produce a pair with both total solar and lunar
   eclipses. More often, partial eclipses are part of any eclipse season.
   But, the last eclipse season of 2026 did produce this
   fortnight-separated pairing of a [7]total solar eclipse on August 12
   (top) and an almost total lunar eclipse on the night of August 27/28.
   At New Moon, the solar eclipse was captured at Peñafiel, Spain near the
   begining of totality in this HDR composite image, revealing a flash of
   [8]Bailey's beads and a [9]golden solar corona. At the following Full
   Moon, the deep [10]partial lunar eclipse was recorded from Sèvres,
   France. Also an HDR composite, the image shows [11]this partial eclipse
   at closer to half its 93 percent maximum phase, so about half the
   visible lunar disk appears darkened and reddened within Earth's
   [12]umbral shadow. The coming [13]eclipse season will see an annular
   solar eclipse on 2027 February 6 paired with a penumbral lunar eclipse
   on February 20/21.

            Growing Gallery: [14]Lunar Eclipse of 2026 August 28
       APOD's main NASA site is [15]moving: From [16]apod.nasa.gov to
                          [17]science.nasa.gov/apod
                     Tomorrow's picture: a grand design
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      Authors & editors: [29]Robert Nemiroff ([30]MTU) & Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([31]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [32]Specific rights apply.
            [33]NASA Web Privacy, [34]Accessibility, [35]Notices;
                A service of: [36]ASD at [37]NASA / [38]GSFC,
                         [39]NASA Science Activation
                           & [40]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2608/2026-08_12and28-EclipsePair.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.instagram.com/gwen.blanck/
   5. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-an-eclipse-season/
   6. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/moon-phases/
   7. https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/nasa-shares-views-of-august-solar-eclipse-from-ground-air-space/
   8. https://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-bailys-beads-discovered/
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260817.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240920.html
  11. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.1063776469684263
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250911.html
  13. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/2027
  14. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.1063776469684263
  15. https://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=45023
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/
  17. https://science.nasa.gov/apod
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260828.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  24. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  27. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260829
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260830.html
  29. https://www.mtu.edu/physics/department/faculty/nemiroff/
  30. https://www.mtu.edu/physics
  31. https://www.astro.umd.edu/
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  36. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  39. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  40. http://www.mtu.edu/