LUNATLAS

About

Sources

Where the information on this site comes from. Each source has one permanent number across the whole site, so a [1] mark on any page always points to the same source.

We rely only on official and primary sources: catalogs from scientific institutions such as NASA, observatory data and reference works. We don't cite news sites. We write everything in our own words, and every link is opened and read before it is added.

Dates and times are our own calculations (with the open-source Astronomy Engine library). How they compare with these sources is shown on the Methodology and Accuracy page. Gaps in the numbering are sources used only in our Turkish pages.

Eclipses

  1. [1]Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: 2001 to 2100Fred Espenak, NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterDates, types (total, partial, penumbral) and magnitudes of every lunar eclipse from 2001 to 2100; all three lunar eclipses of 2027 are penumbral. We compare our times with this catalog.
  2. [3]Danjon Scale of Lunar Eclipse BrightnessFred Espenak, NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterThe five steps of the Danjon scale (L0 to L4) for how dark a total lunar eclipse is; Earth's atmosphere bends sunlight into the shadow; after big volcanic eruptions, eclipses can be very dark for a few years.
  3. [11]Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: 2001 to 2100Fred Espenak, NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterDates and types of every solar eclipse from 2001 to 2100, including the total eclipse of August 2, 2027. How each one looks from a given city is our own calculation.
  4. [13]Eclipse SafetyNASA ScienceLook at the Sun only through eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers that meet the ISO 12312-2 standard; regular sunglasses, however dark, are not safe; never look through a camera lens, telescope or binoculars without a solar filter attached to the front; it is safe to look without protection only while no part of the Sun is visible during totality, and glasses go back on as soon as the bright Sun reappears; pinhole projection is a safe indirect way to watch.
  5. [32]Total Solar Eclipse of 2027 Aug 02Fred Espenak, EclipseWiseTotal eclipse visible from Morocco, Spain, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia; partial eclipse from Africa, Europe, the Middle East and west and south Asia; greatest eclipse at 10:06:37 UT1 at 25°30.2' N, 33°11.0' E, with totality lasting 6m23s.
  6. [53]Eclipse MisconceptionsNASA, Eclipse 2017 website (Web Archive copy)The ideas that an eclipse harms pregnant women or the unborn baby, and that food prepared during an eclipse is poisoned, are false; the light of the corona is harmless, and the real danger is looking at the bright solar surface before totality.
  7. [54]What You Need to Know about the Lunar EclipseNASA, moon.nasa.gov (2019, Web Archive copy)No special equipment is needed to watch a lunar eclipse, though binoculars or a telescope enhance the view and the red color; the Moon turns red because the only sunlight reaching it passes through Earth's atmosphere, and the more dust or clouds there are, the redder it looks: as if all the world's sunrises and sunsets were projected onto the Moon.

The moon and the sky

  1. [4]Dates of Primary Phases of the MoonU.S. Naval Observatory (USNO), Astronomical Applications DepartmentTimes of new moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter (Universal Time, 1700-2100). We compare our phase times with these tables.
  2. [5]Six Millennium Catalog of Phases of the MoonFred Espenak, NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterThe time between new moons averages 29.530588 days, while individual cycles vary between about 29.26 and 29.80 days because of the Sun's pull.
  3. [6]Moon Fact SheetNASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA)Basic lunar numbers: synodic period (phase cycle) 29.53 days, orbital period 27.32 days, mean distance 384,400 km, average perigee 363,300 km and apogee 405,500 km, orbital inclination 5.145°, recession from Earth 3.8 cm per year.
  4. [7]Moon PhasesNASA ScienceThe Sun always lights half of the Moon; the phases come from seeing that lit half from different angles as the Moon orbits Earth; the names of the eight phases and the roughly 29.5-day cycle.
  5. [8]The effect of the lunar cycle on frequency of births and birth complicationsArliss, Kaplan and Galvin; American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2005 (PubMed)Among 564,039 births in North Carolina from 1997 to 2001, no significant difference across the 8 lunar phases in the number of births, mode of delivery or complications.
  6. [14]SupermoonsNASA ScienceA supermoon is a full moon when the Moon is at its closest point to Earth; at its closest, the full Moon can appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the faintest full moon of the year, at its farthest point.
  7. [20]Meteor Shower Calendar 2026International Meteor Organization (IMO), Jürgen RendtelActivity periods, peak times (as solar longitude), radiant positions, speeds, population indexes and zenithal hourly rates of the meteor showers (Table 5); the definition of ZHR: the number one observer would see in an hour with the radiant overhead and a perfect sky showing stars to magnitude +6.5.
  8. [21]Meteor Shower Calendar 2027International Meteor Organization (IMO)The 2027 meteor shower calendar; we compare our calculated 2027 peak times with it.
  9. [22]Meteors and MeteoritesNASA ScienceMeteor showers happen every year as Earth passes through the trail of dusty debris left by a comet; meteoroid, meteor and meteorite; almost all the material vaporizes in the atmosphere; every Perseid is a piece of comet Swift-Tuttle; several meteors an hour on any night.
  10. [23]GeminidsNASA ScienceThe Geminids come from an asteroid, 3200 Phaethon, not a comet; up to 120 an hour at the peak under perfect conditions; watch well away from city lights, lying on your back, and give your eyes about 30 minutes to adapt.
  11. [50]Moon Phase and Libration, 2026NASA Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS)The Moon as seen from Earth for every hour of 2026 (phase, libration and axis tilt), public domain. The phase images on this site are taken from these frames.
  12. [52]Evidence that the lunar cycle influences human sleepCajochen et al.; Current Biology, 2013 (Europe PMC)In a sleep laboratory, with volunteers unable to see the moon, deep sleep (NREM delta activity) fell by 30% around the full moon, falling asleep took 5 minutes longer and total sleep was 20 minutes shorter; melatonin was lower. The authors note there is much folklore but no consistent association of moon cycles with human physiology and behavior.
  13. [56]Moon Phase and Libration Gallery (Dial-A-Moon)NASA Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS)Dial-A-Moon shows what the Moon looked like at a time you enter; the yearly Moon phase visualizations it draws on cover 2011 to 2026.

Calendars and time

  1. [34]Earth's Seasons and ApsidesU.S. Naval ObservatoryTimes of the equinoxes and solstices (UT): in 2026 March 20 14:46, June 21 08:24, September 23 00:05, December 21 20:50; in 2027 March 20 20:25, June 21 14:11, September 23 06:02, December 22 02:42.
  2. [46]Rise, Set, and Twilight DefinitionsU.S. Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications DepartmentSunrise and sunset are when the Sun's upper edge is on the horizon (its center 50′ below: 16′ radius plus 34′ average refraction). Civil, nautical and astronomical twilight end when the Sun's center is 6°, 12° and 18° below the horizon; after civil twilight, outdoor activities normally need artificial light.
  3. [55]Sun and Moon Rise/Set/Transit Times for One DayU.S. Naval Observatory (USNO), Astronomical Applications DepartmentRise, set and transit times of the Sun and Moon and civil twilight for a given place and day, rounded to the minute. We compare our rise and set times with these data.

Traditions

  1. [17]Full Moon NamesThe Old Farmer's Almanac (published since 1792)Traditional full moon names and their meanings, drawn from Native American, Colonial American and other North American traditions.
  2. [47]Brahma-muhurta: definitionsWisdom Library (Śiva Purāṇa 2.1.11, Apte Sanskrit dictionary, Manusmṛti 4.92 and others)Brahma muhurta as the span between the 4th and 2nd ghatika before sunrise (one ghatika is 24 minutes, so 96 to 48 minutes before sunrise); other traditions count the 48 minutes or the hour and a half before sunrise.
  3. [48]Rahukala, Rāhu-kālaWisdom Library (Alar Kannada-English dictionary)Rahu kalam as a period of an hour and a half, starting at a different time each weekday, considered inauspicious for beginning anything. For a 6 am to 6 pm day: Sunday 4:30-6:00 pm, Monday 7:30-9:00 am, Tuesday 3:00-4:30 pm, Wednesday 12:00-1:30 pm, Thursday 1:30-3:00 pm, Friday 10:30 am-12:00 pm, Saturday 9:00-10:30 am (the 8th, 2nd, 7th, 5th, 6th, 4th and 3rd eighth of the daytime).
  4. [51]Tithi: definitionsWisdom Library (Jyotisha and Sanskrit dictionary definitions)A tithi is the time it takes the Moon to increase its distance from the Sun by 12 degrees, one thirtieth of a lunation; each fortnight (paksha) has fifteen tithis; the fifteenth tithi of the bright fortnight is the full moon (Purnima), of the dark fortnight the new moon (Amavasya); the length of a tithi varies.

Places

  1. [37]GeoNames geographical databaseGeoNames (CC BY 4.0)The place list behind the city search: names, coordinates and time zones of about 46,000 towns and cities.

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