A new eclipse season begins on July 27, starting a roughly 35-day stretch when the Earth, moon and sun line up closely enough for eclipses to happen. According to the available details, this eclipse season runs through Aug. 31 and sets the stage for two notable sky events in August.
An eclipse season is the period when the moon's orbit brings it into the right alignment with Earth and the sun. That alignment does not produce eclipses every month, which is why these windows attract so much interest from skywatchers and astronomy followers.
This latest eclipse season is expected to include August's total solar eclipse as well as a deep partial lunar eclipse. A total solar eclipse happens when the moon fully covers the sun from parts of Earth, while a partial lunar eclipse occurs when only part of the moon moves into Earth's shadow.
The start of eclipse season on July 27 signals that these celestial events are approaching. For anyone tracking August eclipses, the key takeaway is that the alignment window is now open, making the coming weeks an important period for observing one of the year's most anticipated astronomy sequences.
