The moon’s umbra shadow. The sky will be much brighter for Wednesday’s eclipse. (WTOP/Greg Redfern) On Wednesday, May 26, half of the planet will be treated to a total “supermoon” lunar eclipse. That’s the good news, as it will be the first total lunar eclipse in almost 2 1/2 years. The bad news is that it will not be that great of an event for the D.C. area. In fact, it might not be able to see the Earth’s shadow on the moon at all, because the eclipse will be happening just before sunrise and as the full flower supermoon is setting in the southwest.