2026 Sky Event Planner

2026 will be year full of sky events: two solar eclipses will be followed by two lunar eclipses. We’ll have two supermoons, two micromoons and one blue moon. All the planetary oppositions will happen in the seasons when the nights are longer and planetary conjunctions are sprinkled throughout the year.

Solar Events
Solar Eclipses
Solar Eclipses happen when the Moon blocks all or part of the Sun. There are several types described below.

• A Total eclipse happens when the Moon completely obscures the Sun for an observer.
• An Annular* eclipse (from the word annulus or ring) happens when the Moon appears inside the disk of the Sun, but is too small to cover the Sun completely. This allows a ring of light from the Sun to shine around the lunar disk.
• Hybrid events happen when the eclipse appears Annular in some parts of the eclipse path and Total in another part.
• Partial* eclipses and phases happen when the Moon obscures a part of the Sun while the lunar disk does not completely overlap the Solar disk. These partial phases are visible before and after totality on the path of the eclipse and in wide areas off the path of totality.

*Viewers are cautioned to keep eclipse glasses on for all phases of this event. There will be no totality or solar corona to observe.

• February 17th (Annular): Maximum annularity will be in Antarctica and surrounding waters with greatest duration of 2m 20s. Partial eclipse will be visible from most of Antarctica (60% or more of the Sun obstructed) with some partial visibility (20 – 40%) in south-east Africa and Madagascar.

• August 12th (Total): Totality will be visible from northern Spain, western Iceland, eastern Greenland, just missing the North Pole and in the waters north of Siberia. Greatest Duration is 2m 18s off the coast of Greenland. If you can’t travel to Totality, partial phases will be seen in Alaska, Canada, the mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States plus Scandinavia, United Kingdom, Western Europe, and north-west Africa.

Lunar Events
Supermoons and Micromoons
Due to the elliptical shape of the lunar orbit, the mean distance from the Earth to the Moon can vary by 42,200 km (26,200 mi). Due to perturbations from the Sun, this distance can at times exceed 50,000 km (31,700 mi). The term Supermoon describes a full Moon that occurs near the Moon’s closest approach to Earth (perigee) while Micromoon describes a full Moon near the point furthest from the Earth (apogee). A Supermoon can be 14% bigger than a Micromoon. The difference in size is very obvious in photographic comparisons. There is no agreed-upon definition of how close and far a Moon needs to be to qualify for any of these designations, so sources may differ on the number of these Moons in a year. The Supermoons of 2026 with the dates of perigee in parenthesis is presented here. The closer the two dates are the more extreme the size difference from a typical Moon.

• January 3rd (January 1st)
• December 23rd (December 24th)

The Micromoons of 2026 and the dates of apogee in parenthesis follow.

• May 31st (June 1st – also a Blue Moon)
• June 29th (June 28th)

Blue Moons
There are several definitions of “Blue Moon” these days. These not-so “rare” full moons give rise to the expression “once in a blue moon”. The second of two full moons in a month is fairly common (36% chance of occurring in a year) . We have one such Moon in 2026 on the same date as the Micromoon: May 31st. Don’t expect the Moon to actually appear blue — unless you see it through an extreme haze layer such as those caused by a volcanic eruption.

Lunar Eclipse
Lunar eclipses happen when the Moon’s orbit passes on the side of the Earth opposite the Sun and enters the Earth’s shadow. There are two zones in the shadow: the outer penumbra and inner umbra. The shadow is very large and it is possible for the Moon to spend the entire eclipse in the penumbra. A total lunar eclipse happens when the Moon completely enters the umbra.

• Total Lunar Eclipses happen when the Moon passes through the umbral (inner) shadow of the Earth. This is the deepest shadow and can cause the Moon to turn red.
• Penumbral Lunar Eclipses happen when the Moon only passes through the large penumbral (outer) shadow of the Earth. This shadow is mixed with sunlight and only dims the Moon slightly.
• Partial Lunar Eclipses and phases happen when the Moon is not entirely inside the umbral shadow.

The Moon will often turn a shade of orange or red during a total lunar eclipse. Hence the other name for this event is a blood moon. This is caused by sunlight passing through the atmosphere along the rim of the Earth and being refracted onto the Moon. Light turns red due to the scattering phenomena that causes sunrise and sunset to be red. In other words, the Moon in the umbra is dimly illuminated by every sunrise and sunset on the planet.

Because the Earth’s penumbral and umbral shadows are large at the distance of the Moon, the alignment of the Sun, Earth, and Moon two weeks before or after a solar eclipse is often close enough to cause a lunar eclipse. This will be the case this year with Lunar Eclipses happening around two weeks after a Solar Eclipse. List of Lunar Eclipses for 2026:

• March 3rd (Total): Full eclipse will be visible from Alaska, the western states and provinces of Canada across the entire Pacific, including New Zealand, most of Japan, Papa New Guinea and the eastern section of Australia. Europe, western, Asia, and Africa will miss out. All other places will see part of the show.

• August 28th (Partial): This will be pretty good partial as most of the Moon will enter the umbra with just a sliver remaining in the Penumbra. Complete visibility will be in Central and South America, the Caribbean, the extreme western tip of Africa, most of Mexico, most of Texas, the central and eastern United states and Canada. No visibility will be had from most of Asia, India, China, Australia or Japan. All other regions will have partial visibility.

The Planets
Oppositions
Planets in opposition are in the sky opposite the Sun when viewed from Earth. They rise at sunset and are in the sky all night. Around opposition, the planets are closest to Earth and at their brightest. This makes opposition an opportune time to view and image a planet — especially the faint “ice giants” Uranus and Neptune. Note that only planets with orbits further away from the Sun than Earth’s orbit can be in opposition. Here are the opposition dates for 2026:

• January 10th: Jupiter
• September 25th: Neptune
• October 4th: Saturn
• November 25th: Uranus

Planetary Conjunctions
Moving along the ecliptic path, planets “catch up” to each other and close together. These are planetary conjunctions. There is a formal definition that states the objects must have the same right ascension or ecliptic longitude — but we’ll use the broader definition of objects being close together. Conjunctions between the dim, ice giant worlds with a brighter planet are a great way to locate those dim denizens of the outer solar system. You should watch these object in the days before and after closest approach. This list shows planetary conjunctions for 2026 where the participating planets are within 2° of each other.

• February 16th: Saturn and Neptune will be visible just 54′ apart in the west at dusk just skimming the horizon. Best views are in the northern hemisphere for this great opportunity to spot Neptune.
• March 8th: Venus and Saturn will be 1° apart at dusk, but so close to the Sun that you’ll need an extremely clear western horizon in the northern hemisphere to see them. You’ll have to look for them in twilight soon after the Sun sets.
• April 16th: Mercury and Neptune will be 1°25′ apart in the predawn sky and most visible in the Southern Hemisphere as mid-northern latitude observers will find the Sun intruding on the view. Joining the show will be Mars and Saturn closer to the horizon. This is another fine opportunity to locate Neptune by using a brighter planet as a guide.
• April 20st: Mercury, Mars, and Saturn triple conjunction. Mercury and Saturn will close to 30′ apart while Mercury and Mars span 1°48′. Saturn and Mars will close to 1°18′ apart. Best views of this special meeting will be in the southern hemisphere in the eastern pre-dawn sky.
• April 24th: Venus and Uranus will be separated by 46′ in the western sky at dusk near the Pleiades star cluster low on the horizon in the northern hemisphere. This is a great opportunity to view Uranus using a brighter object as a guide.
• August 15th: Jupiter and Mercury will be separated by 33′ at dawn twilight a few degrees above the eastern horizon. This is another tough one. Best views are in the northern hemisphere.
• November 15th: Jupiter and Mars will be 1°14′ apart and rising around mid-night. Close to dawn, with brilliant Venus on the horizon, the pair will be high in the sky. This will be an easy view from both hemispheres.

A 1200mm focal length Dobsonian with a 2″ wide-field eyepiece will allow viewing all planets involved in these events in one field. An 8″ SCT setup with similar 2″ eyepiece will need minimal movement to see the wider of the conjunctions — here is where a 0.8x reducer can help. Scopes under 770mm in focal length (that includes all Tele Vue telescopes) can see all the planets within a 2° conjunction circle with wide-field 1¼” eyepieces.