NASA highlighted a photograph on Tuesday showing an airplane departing beneath a lunar eclipse, captured during the prior week from Portugal. The educational service Astronomy Picture of the Day, jointly operated by NASA Science Activation and Michigan Technological University, distributes an astronomical image daily accompanied by commentary written by professional astronomers.
Astronomers Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, and Keighley Rockcliffe author and edit the project. The team noted that lunar eclipses rank among the most frequently witnessed and photographed astronomical events. Observers situated across the entire half of Earth facing the Moon can view the occurrence with unaided vision, requiring no specialized filters or instruments. Photographers and viewers face no risk from solar glare, because the alignment avoids directing eyes or camera lenses toward the bright Sun.
Airline passengers seated on the left side of an aircraft during takeoff would initially struggle to see an eclipse aligned to the right. The entry noted that because lunar eclipses typically last for hours, passengers can safely move across aisles once in flight to observe the Moon.
NASA announced that the primary website hosting the Astronomy Picture of the Day catalog is relocating from apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod. The release linked to an image gallery covering the August 2026 lunar eclipse, following an August 31 feature detailing the launch of the Roman Space Telescope and preceding a scheduled September 2 entry on solar eclipses and culture.
