Tools

Astronomy calendar of notable celestial events 2026

January 2026

• 🌠January 3 – Quadrantid meteor shower peak (80 meteors/hour)
• 🌕January 14 – Lunar occultation of Antares
• ☄️January 20 – Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) reaches perihelion, mag ≈5, visible only from the Southern Hemisphere

February 2026

• ☄️February 17 – Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) comes closest to Earth, mag ≈8, visible from parts of the Northern Hemisphere and from the Southern Hemisphere

March 2026

• 🪐March 8 – Bright Venus close to Saturn in the evening sky
• 🌕March 18 – The Moon meets Mars and Mercury at dawn

April 2026

• 🪐April 18 – Morning planetary alignment of Saturn, Mars, Mercury, and Neptune
• 🌠April 22–23 – Lyrid meteor shower peak (18 meteors/hour)

May 2026

• 🌠May 6 – Eta Aquariids peak (50 meteors/hour)

June 2026

• 🪐June 12 – Evening alignment of Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus
• 🌕From June 16 – Thin crescent Moon joins the Mercury–Jupiter–Venus alignment
• 🌕June 17 – Daytime lunar occultation of Venus (best from most of the contiguous USA, parts of Canada, Brazil, Venezuela)

July 2026

• 🌠July 30–31 – Double meteor peak of Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids (25 and 5 meteors/hour)

August 2026

• ☄️August 2 – Comet 10P/Tempel 2 reaches perihelion, mag ≈8, visible in binoculars/small telescopes
• 🌕August 27–28 – Deep partial lunar eclipse

September 2026

• 🌕September 6–14 – “Week of the planets”: Moon meets Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus one by one

October 2026

• 🌕October 6 – Lunar occultation of Jupiter

November 2026

• 🪐Around November 14 – Planetary alignment of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter before dawn
• 🌠November 17–19 – Leonid meteor shower (15 meteors/hour; increased activity possible)
• 🪐November 25 – Uranus at opposition

December 2026

• 🌕December 24 – Largest Supermoon of the year
• 🌕December 26–28 – Moon forms a bright arc with Jupiter, Regulus, and Mars in Leo