The moon goes dark in early March, and scientists hope the public will join them next week for an eclipse party!
Hawaiʻi is one of the only places in the world in the direct path of a lunar eclipse in the early hours of Tuesday, March 3. The moment of "maximum eclipse" is expected around 1:30 a.m. local time.
Roy Gal from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy spoke with HPR for a new segment called "Hawaiʻi Skies." He shared the latest on the upcoming eclipse — and the watch party at Bishop Museum on Oʻahu.
"That's going to be happening on the night of March 2, heading into the morning of March 3, and the total lunar eclipse is when the Earth's shadow falls on the moon and turns it a kind of beautiful red, coppery, brownish color," he said.
Where should you go to see it?
"Any place outside, out from under a roof, and you have to be somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, like us here in Hawaiʻi, because the path of totality goes over the Pacific, and the only other places in the world that will see it are like the West Coast of the U.S., just barely, and maybe Guam. And that's about it," Gal told HPR.
The last total lunar eclipse visible from Hawaiʻi was on Nov. 8, 2022. Residents will have to wait until Dec. 31, 2028, for the next one — but Hawaiʻi will not be quite as well placed.
The institute and Bishop Museum will host a free eclipse viewing party at the museum starting at 11 p.m. on March 2. A livestream will also be available on YouTube.
"We're going to have telescopes, binoculars, astronomers. The Bishop Museum is running their planetarium, and you'll be able to join us, ask us questions, have a safe place to hang out," he said. "So come join a bunch of people who love looking at the sky."
This story aired on The Conversation on Feb. 27, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
