Overview
- January’s first full moon becomes a supermoon on January 3, reaching peak illumination at 5:03 a.m. ET and appearing up to about 14% larger and 30% brighter than average.
- The Quadrantids meteor shower peaks the night of January 3–4, but near‑full lunar brightness will wash out many meteors; the best chance to spot a few is from midnight to dawn Sunday, according to the American Meteor Society.
- Jupiter reaches opposition on January 10 in Gemini, shining at magnitude –2.7 and remaining visible all night with excellent views of its disk and four bright moons.
- 2026’s major sky events include a Feb. 17 annular eclipse over Antarctica with partial views in southern Africa and South America, a total lunar eclipse on Mar. 2–3, and a total solar eclipse on Aug. 12 over Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain with about 2 minutes 18 seconds of totality.
- NASA’s Artemis II lunar flyby is targeted as soon as early February, a developing schedule that adds to public focus on the Moon as the year’s celestial highlights unfold.