Florida Atlantic University Astronomical Observatory

We won't get to see the whole thing here in S. Florida, but do try to go out and see it if you have a clear view of it in the western horizon. The 5:26 am time is key to observe evidence for the sphericity of Earth. Enjoy!

🌑🔴 Total Lunar Eclipse — March 3, 2026

A breathtaking Total Lunar Eclipse will grace the night sky on March 3, 2026, turning the Moon a deep copper-red during totality — the famous Blood Moon.

As Earth moves directly between the Sun and the Moon, our planet’s shadow will slowly cover the lunar surface. When the Moon is fully immersed in Earth’s umbra, it will glow in shades of red and orange due to sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere.

⏰ Totality lasts: About 58 minutes
🌘 Entire eclipse duration: Over 5 hours
👀 Safe to watch with the naked eye — no special equipment needed

🌓 Eclipse Timeline (EST):
• 4:35 AM – Deep Penumbral phase begins
• 5:26 AM – 50% Partial eclipse
• 6:04 AM – Totality begins
• 6:34 AM – Greatest Eclipse 🌕🔴
• 7:03 AM – Totality ends
• 7:41 AM – 50% Partial
• 8:33 AM – Deep Penumbral phase ends

This will be one of the most beautiful sky events of 2026 and the last total lunar eclipse visible worldwide until 2029.

Set your alarm, step outside, and witness the magic of the Blood Moon! 🌌✨

To counter a false promise of a "smiling conjunction" appearing on Feb. 28th, 2026, this is what people should expect to see in the skies. This one should be clearer.

Haven't posted much lately as I realized I had to plan for something big and it's taking time and meetings and . . . to work it out. And it's somewhat iffy, too.

BUT a big iffiness became less so after a particular rehearsal test was quite well done today. So I'm seeking volunteer astronomers to help out with this plan and will announce it soon as I get all my t's dotted and i's crossed! Promise!

There were loads of hair raising fun at the Observatory this first Friday of February's public viewing session!

We observed Saturn, Jupiter, Orion's nebulae, the Moon, and stellar spectra, through the clear and cold night sky. We taught about the winter evening constellations and how they help orient and place us on the globe. We discussed the origin of Earth's water, partially walked a "to scale model" of the solar system, invoked the magic of Lenzea Dawdlea Descendo, demonstrated the conversion of sound into electrical signals, explored magnetic fields, energized visitors to hair raising potentials so they could light gas tubes by hand, and even learned to manipulate lightning in a bottle!

There's so much to cover, that it's a good thing there are still more nights in the year!

Image credit: Brandon Welcher.

Made a recent fix to the telescope's vibration dampeners. Doing so misaligned it's star tracking axes, which I worked at correcting last night. The weather was clear and cold as a cold air mass moved over Boca. This caused very difficult seeing conditions to do that task, though. Hopefully, it will all be worth it for tonight's public viewing session. We'll have a supermoon, the winter sky wonders, Jupiter and Saturn to see!