A unique astronomical event will take place in the heavens on Saturday, August 23. A black moon is a unique kind of new moon that will pass invisible due to the Sun’s brightness.
What Makes Saturday’s Black Moon Special?
From Earth’s point of view, the moon will reach its closest point to the Sun at exactly 2:06 a.m. EDT. While new moons themselves are common, this black moon is different. It marks the beginning of a chain of events that will bring one total lunar eclipse and three solar eclipses, stretching all the way to the year 2044.
Astronomers call this new moon a seasonal “black moon.” A black moon happens when four new moons occur in a single astronomical season, which is measured between a solstice and an equinox. In that time frame, there are often only three new moons. Since there are four new moons this year between the June solstice and the September equinox, this is an exceptional occurrence. A black moon happens just once every two to three years, adding to the mystery surrounding this celestial moment.
New moons are always linked with solar eclipses, while full moons are connected with lunar eclipses. That connection is about to play out in an extraordinary way.
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How This Black Moon Sets Up A Blood Moon And More
Exactly two weeks after the black moon on August 23, a full moon will rise on September 7. Known traditionally as the Corn Moon, it will appear as an ordinary full moon in North America. However, for observers in Asia, Australia, and parts of the Pacific, this will be far from ordinary. There will be a total lunar eclipse as the moon moves through Earth’s shadow. During this time, the moon will appear a deep red color, popularly called a “Blood Moon.”
Two weeks after that, on September 22, the moon will once again align perfectly, but this time between Earth and the Sun. Viewers in New Zealand, Antarctica, and the South Pacific will witness a deep partial solar eclipse, with as much as 79% of the Sun hidden by the moon. This marks the second eclipse in this rare sequence.
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The story does not end there. A full lunar year later, on August 12, 2026, another alignment will occur. This time, the moon will totally obscure the Sun’s rays, resulting in a total solar eclipse. This event’s path of totality will span northern Spain, western Iceland, eastern Greenland, and northern Russia.
Finally, in an extraordinary display of cosmic timing, on August 23, 2044—exactly 19 years after this year’s black moon—another new moon will take place. That day, a total solar eclipse will cross parts of the United States, including Montana and North Dakota, as well as regions of Canada and western Greenland. This precise timing is not random but the result of the Metonic cycle. The moon phases recur on the same dates of the calendar after this 19-year cycle.
Understanding Eclipse Seasons And The Cosmic Geometry
The reason this black moon is connected to such a rare series of eclipses lies in something called an eclipse season. The moon aligns its orbit with that of the Earth and Sun approximately every 173 days, or almost six months. Because of this alignment, there is a window of approximately 31 to 37 days when eclipse conditions are ideal.
In comparison to Earth’s orbit around the Sun, the moon’s orbit is skewed by roughly five degrees. Because of this tilt, the moon usually passes slightly above or below the Sun and Earth, so eclipses do not occur every month. But during an eclipse season, the geometry lines up perfectly. A full moon during this window creates a lunar eclipse, while a new moon during the same period produces a solar eclipse. Sometimes, if the timing works out, three eclipses can occur in succession.
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That is exactly what is happening now. The August 23 black moon marks the start of an eclipse season. The sequence includes the total lunar eclipse in September, the partial solar eclipse later that month, the total solar eclipse in 2026, and another total solar eclipse exactly 19 years later in 2044.
This chain of events shows how deeply interconnected the moon’s orbit is with both solar and lunar eclipses. What begins as a dark, invisible black moon in August 2025 sets the stage for a blood-red lunar eclipse and multiple dramatic solar eclipses over the coming decades.
