February 2027 Moon Phases

February 2027 contains both eclipses in the year’s first eclipse season. An annular “ring of fire” solar eclipse opens the month on the New Moon, and a penumbral lunar eclipse closes it out riding along with a near-perigee Full Moon. Here’s what’s happening and when.

An annular “ring of fire” opens the month — but not for North America

On February 6, the New Moon passes directly between Earth and the Sun near apogee, the Moon’s farthest point from Earth. Because the Moon’s disc looks slightly too small to fully cover the Sun at that distance, it leaves a bright ring of sunlight visible around the edges at maximum eclipse — an annular eclipse, sometimes called a “ring of fire.” The path of annularity crosses Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, then sweeps across the Atlantic to Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria, with the longest annularity lasting close to eight minutes.

A wider partial eclipse extends across much more of South America and western Africa, along with parts of Antarctica. This eclipse isn’t visible from any part of North America — the next annular eclipse visible from the United States isn’t until 2039. For the full mechanics of how annular and total eclipses differ, see our eclipse calendar and explainer.

A near-perigee Snow Moon carries a penumbral lunar eclipse

February’s Full Moon is widely known as the Snow Moon, a name reflecting the heavy snowfall that typically blankets much of North America this time of year. Hunger Moon is one of several other traditional names attached to it, though Moon names and their meanings varied between different cultures and communities. For the fuller history behind the name, see our Snow Moon guide.

This Full Moon turns full close to perigee, at around 363,000 km from Earth — close enough that it will appear roughly 6% larger and 12% brighter than a Full Moon at the Moon’s mean distance. Whether that technically counts as a “supermoon” depends on which definition you use: it falls just outside the 360,000 km cutoff some sources use, though others count it as the second supermoon of 2027 following January’s, since “supermoon” isn’t an official astronomical term with one fixed threshold.

It also carries a penumbral lunar eclipse: the Moon begins entering Earth’s outer shadow, the penumbra, around 4:12 PM EST, reaches greatest eclipse around 6:13 PM EST, and exits the penumbra by roughly 8:13 PM EST. Because the darker umbral shadow misses the Moon entirely, the dimming will be subtle rather than dramatic. The entire eclipse is visible from much of Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia, while locations across the Americas see it only after moonrise; in parts of western North America, including the West Coast and Alaska, the Moon is below the horizon for the whole event. For how this Full Moon compares with the year’s other close and distant Full Moons, see our supermoon and micromoon calendar.