Chasing the 96% Blood Moon: A Night in Durango (and a Case of Mistaken Bear-Watching)

On the night of August 27, 2026, the Full Sturgeon Moon slid almost entirely into Earth's shadow — a deep partial lunar eclipse that swallowed roughly 96% of the lunar disk. It wasn't quite a full "blood moon," but it was close enough to turn the moon a deep copper-red, and it was the most dramatic lunar eclipse anyone on Earth will see until 2028. Kim and I weren't about to miss it, so took my tripod down to a corner (no trees) and pointed at the moon.

Here's how the night went — the eclipse, the photos, and the part where our neighbors apparently thought we were tracking wildlife instead of the moon.

What Actually Happened Up There

A lunar eclipse happens when the sun, Earth, and moon line up so that Earth's shadow falls across the moon's face. This one was a deep partial eclipse rather than a total one — at its peak, about 96% of the moon passed through Earth's darkest inner shadow (the umbra), leaving just a thin bright sliver glowing along one edge while the rest of the moon dimmed to shades of copper, rust, and orange.

The whole event unfolded slowly, starting with a subtle penumbral dimming in the evening and building for hours before the deepest, most colorful phase hit around 10:12 Mountain Time.

How You Could Actually See It

If you're wondering whether this kind of eclipse is easy to catch — it is. No telescope required, no special glasses (that's for solar eclipses, not lunar ones). Just clear skies, a bit of patience, and knowing which direction and roughly what time to look.

The Corner, the Camera, and the Bear Confusion

Here's the part that made the night, honestly. Kim and I picked a corner near that had a clear, unobstructed view straight up — no trees, no rooflines, nothing blocking the moon. So there we were, tripod up, both of us craning our necks and pointing a very serious-looking camera almost straight up into the sky.

The fun part several people stopped and asked if were photographing the bear in the hood. We smiled and pointed at the moon.

The Fun Part: Playing With the Photo

A couple of days later, I couldn't resist messing around with the moon photo I took. :-)

Worth Staying Up For

Between the moon itself and the unplanned bear-patrol subplot, this was one of those nights that reminded me why we keep dragging tripods out onto street corners at midnight. The next eclipse this dramatic won't happen until 2028 — so if you missed this one, mark your calendar, and maybe warn your neighbors ahead of time about what you're actually pointing that camera at.