In 2026, the skywatching checklist is likely to start with the moon: a Jan. 3 supermoon sets the tone early, and an astronomical blue moon is on the books for May. The “moonshot” momentum also carries into spaceflight planning, with NASA’s Artemis program aimed at renewed exploration of lunar regions long missed by the Apollo era.
NASA’s upcoming moon mission is expected to put crewed spacecraft in the path of lunar far-side targets. NASA’s Reid Wiseman said there is a good chance he and his crew will be the first to lay eyes on large swaths of the lunar far side that were missed by the Apollo astronauts, and he said the observations could help geologists and other experts picking future landing sites. The plan calls for the three Americans and one Canadian to launch early in the year, zip past the moon, swing behind it, and return directly to Earth to wrap up a 10-day mission, with no moonwalk planned because the boot prints would be left by the next Artemis crew.
The lunar schedule in 2026 is not limited to government missions. The AP said more robotic lunar landings are planned by China as well as U.S. companies, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin seeking to launch a prototype of a lunar lander it is designing for NASA’s astronauts. The planned Blue Moon demonstration lander would stand 26 feet (8 meters), with a crew version that would be almost double that height, according to the AP’s rundown. Astrobotic Technology and Intuitive Machines also are targeting 2026 lunar landings with scientific gear, and Firefly Aerospace—described in the AP story as the only private company that has nailed a lunar landing—will aim for the moon’s far side in 2026.
China’s 2026 plans include activity focused on the south polar region, with a rover and a hopper intended for permanently shadowed craters to search for ice. Separately, the AP said the moon and sun events are paired with other sky highlights: skywatchers will have planetary viewing opportunities and multiple supermoon nights, plus eclipses that stretch across hemispheres.
Eclipses will offer some of the most geographically spread viewing chances. The AP said a total solar eclipse on Aug. 12 will begin in the Arctic and cross Greenland, Iceland and Spain, with totality lasting two minutes and 18 seconds. The story contrasts that experience with a different total solar eclipse in 2027 that will last 6 1/2 minutes of totality and pass over more countries.
Earlier, the AP said the warm-up act will be a ring-of-fire solar eclipse in the Antarctic on Feb. 17, with only a few research stations in prime viewing position. South Africa and southernmost Chile and Argentina will have partial viewing, the AP said. A total lunar eclipse follows two weeks after February’s ring of fire, and a partial lunar eclipse closes the action at the end of August.
Beyond the eclipses, the AP said six of the solar system’s eight planets will “prance across the sky” around Feb. 28, with a nearly full moon appearing alongside Jupiter. The AP said Uranus and Neptune likely will require binoculars or telescopes, while Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn should be visible with the naked eye shortly after sunset if weather permits, though Mercury and Venus would be low on the horizon. Mars will be the only no-show for that February lineup, and the AP said Mars joins a six-planet parade in August, while Venus is the holdout.
Supermoons will also draw crowds in 2026, the AP said, with three separate nights when the full moon comes closer to Earth than usual and appears bigger and brighter. The year’s first supermoon in January coincides with a meteor shower, though the moonlight likely would obscure the dimmer fireballs, the AP said. The second supermoon of 2026 will not occur until Nov. 24, and the third—the year’s final and closest supermoon—will occur the night of Dec. 23 into Dec. 24, with the AP saying it will pass within 221,668 miles (356,740 kilometers) of Earth.
The AP also tied the year’s potential for auroras to solar activity and monitoring. It said the sun is expected to churn out more eruptions in 2026 that could lead to geomagnetic storms on Earth, producing auroras, and it said solar action should start to ease as the 11-year solar cycle moves toward its downslide. As space weather forecasters get more data from an observatory launched in the fall, the AP quoted Rob Steenburgh of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration saying, in an email, that “2026 will be an exciting year for space weather enthusiasts” and that spacecraft measurements will help scientists “better understand our nearest star and forecast its impacts.”
The AP additionally mentioned ongoing interest in interstellar visitors. It described the recently discovered comet 3I/Atlas as fading after swinging past Earth in December and said scientists expect more such visitors as technology improves. In that context, the AP quoted NASA’s Paul Chodas, who has been looking since the 1980s, saying, “I can’t believe it’s taken this long to find three,” and adding that “the chance of catching another interstellar visitor will increase.” The story’s year-ahead outlook also placed Jupiter in line for March, after the interstellar object departs the solar system about a decade from now.