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One of the most striking differences between my visual observations through binoculars of the Aug 2026 solar eclipse and that of April 2024. Was this time I could not make out any features or albedo markings of the moons surface during totality. In contrast to April 2024 visual observations where despite under much poorer sky conditions due to cloud the most striking feature was seeing many lunar features on the ‘night side’. Could this be due to the eclipse being late in the day during Aug 2026, as apposed to April 2024 which was in the middle of the day so earth shine might be more significant compared to 2026. I’ve checked my longer exposure images and can’t detect any lunar features but I don’t have decent long exposures with high magnification. I’d be interested to hear thoughts from more seasoned eclipse observers.
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Hi Richard,
You could also ask Mariusz Krukar (PL) for his comments,
as discussed here:
https://britastro.org/forums/topic/impact-of-the-2026-august-12-solar-eclipse-on-twilight
and Giovanni Di Giovanni here:
https://britastro.org/forums/topic/next-solar-eclipse-2
Alex.
Richard. By definition the Earth is “full” as seen from the Moon during a TSE but the visibility of earthshine is strongly dependent on the Earth’s albedo, which depends on cloud distribution. The clarity of the air long the line of sight is also important since any scattering from the corona reduces contrast. I agree that the lunar features were much fainter this eclipse but I think the maria are just visible (with some imagination) in the attached, highly stretched, image which is a 20s stack taken using a mono sensor at mid-eclipse.
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Here’s an extremely processed stack of 731 video frames of the beginning of the total solar eclipse from 6 miles off of the coast of Greenland
You can clearly see Mare Serenitatis and Mare Tranquillitatis and if you squint Mare Crisium.
Frame rate was 50fps, ISO1600, 90D + FSQ55.
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