Sturgeon Moon Moves Into Earth’s Shadow Over Rochester

Sturgeon Moon Moves Into Earth’s Shadow Over Rochester

By Lisa Loucks-Christenson
Rochester, Minn. — Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, 6:21 a.m. CDT

Last night and into this morning, I photographed the August Sturgeon Moon as it moved through Earth’s shadow during a deep partial lunar eclipse—watching its familiar bright face fade into darker, reddish tones above the oak savanna.

The Sturgeon Moon is the traditional name for August’s full Moon. This year, it was not just bright and full above the trees—it also moved into Earth’s shadow, gradually losing its familiar white glow and taking on darker tones, with the reddish color many people connect with a “Blood Moon.”

This was a partial lunar eclipse, not a total one, but it was deep enough that much of the Moon moved into the darkest part of Earth’s shadow. At the eclipse’s greatest point, about 96 

The visible partial eclipse began around 9:34 p.m. CDT Thursday, but I was inside working with the monarchs and did not make it back outside until close to 11 p.m. I arrived just as the Moon was reaching its deepest point in the eclipse, near 11:13 p.m., when most of its face had moved into Earth’s shadow and the darker reddish color was showing.

After that, the Moon slowly began brightening again. The deepest, most visible part of the eclipse ended shortly before 1 a.m. Friday, while the softer outer edge of Earth’s shadow continued to dim the Moon until about 2:02 a.m.

I photographed the Moon with two cameras, shooting handheld and recording raw footage. I was working around the oak savanna, moving often to keep tree limbs from taking over the frame.

That is one of the things I enjoy about photographing nature and sky events from home: it is never a studio setup. The trees are where they are. The branches move into the shot. The Moon keeps climbing or shifting. You work with the place you are in and keep watching for the next opening.

Throughout the night, I went back and forth between the Moon and the smaller transformations taking place around me.

Noodle is preparing for the next stage of his life, moving from instar toward chrysalis. Mercury, a monarch chrysalis, is almost all black now. The bright orange-and-black wings are showing through as the butterfly gets closer to emerging.

For the last several days, a lone male monarch has also been drifting through the oak savanna to the milkweed, perching around it and returning again.

I keep telling him, “Just stay. You have friends coming soon.”

That was the night: a Moon moving into shadow, monarchs preparing to emerge, one butterfly waiting near the milkweed, and cameras moving between it all.

Around 1 a.m., my husband came looking for me. I still had his phone because I had been talking with my mama while videotaping the Moon. We talked about the northern lights and the partial eclipse while I was recording. Those videos are not necessarily for the public. They are for my favorite files and family stories—for the voices and moments I will want to go back to.

I sent Mama several photographs as the Moon completed its eclipse.

The night also gave me new visual material for my upcoming covers for Wakefield, Minnesota and Wakefield Landing. I have enough Moon images now to begin illustrating, although I may still head to Wisconsin tonight to photograph more of the Moon over the river before returning to cover work this weekend.

The eclipse may have lasted only a few hours, but the photographs, videos, field notes, and family conversation will stay with me much longer.

Do you have old photos, videos, or recordings that you revisit—not because they are perfect, but because they bring you back to a place, a night, or someone you love?

                 

#MonarchButterfly #MonarchChrysalis #Milkweed #OakSavanna #NatureObservation #WildlifeStorytelling #NatureWriter #NatureDocumentary #Transformation #SturgeonMoon #PartialLunarEclipse