Here’s your 2026 guide to major celestial events, from eclipses to auroras
The moon and the sun will be the dominant targets for skywatchers in 2026, with a series of eclipses, supermoons and other high-profile moments stretching across the calendar, according to a year-ahead roundup from the Associated Press. The timing starts early, with the moon approaching “top billing” through multiple lunar phases and then carrying into eclipse season and later planet parades. The AP also highlighted NASA and commercial plans aimed at getting humans and robots to look at the moon again.
NASA has the first major human milestone queued up for early 2026, when a crew is expected to conduct a flyby mission that includes observing large swaths of the lunar far side that Apollo-era astronauts missed. In the AP report, Reid Wiseman, identified as an upcoming moonshot commander, said there is “a good chance” his crew will be first to see those far-side regions. The mission is described as a 10-day trip in which the crew will zip past the moon, perform a turnaround behind it, and then head back to Earth without a moonwalk.
Alongside NASA’s crew mission, 2026 also features a busy set of robotic lunar landings from both international and private efforts, the AP said. It reported that China is targeting the south polar region and plans to send a rover and a “hopper” to enter permanently shadowed craters in search of ice. In the United States, the report pointed to multiple commercial campaigns, including Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander prototype for NASA’s astronauts, and lander targets by Astrobotic Technology and Intuitive Machines. The AP also said Firefly Aerospace is aiming for a far-side landing in 2026.
Blue Origin’s effort is described in the roundup with specific scale comparisons, including a prototype planned to stand 26 feet (8 meters) and a crew version that would be almost double that height. The AP also placed the private-sector landings in a broader context of how the “moonshot” year is pairing human exploration with robotic science preparation, rather than treating either category as separate from the other.
Eclipses will supply several of the biggest public viewing windows. The AP said a total solar eclipse is set for Aug. 12, beginning in the Arctic and crossing Greenland, Iceland and Spain, with the duration of totality listed as two minutes and 18 seconds. It also noted that the Oct. 2026 eclipse coverage is followed by other eclipse events across the year, including a ring-of-fire eclipse in the Antarctic on Feb. 17 where only select research stations will be in prime viewing positions, and then a total lunar eclipse about two weeks later.
The roundup also included a closing sequence of lunar-eclipse activity described as ending the run at late August with a partial lunar eclipse. In between, the year’s eclipse calendar is also paired with other sky moments designed for casual observers, such as a lineup of planets that the AP said would make a nearly full moon appear alongside Jupiter around Feb. 28. The AP said Uranus and Neptune would require binoculars or telescopes, while Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn should be visible to the naked eye after sunset, weather permitting—though it cautioned that Mercury and Venus would be low on the horizon.
Supermoons will recur three times across 2026, the AP reported, described as occurring when a full moon comes closer to Earth than usual and appears bigger and brighter. It said the first supermoon in January coincides with a meteor shower but that moonlight likely will obscure the dimmer fireballs. The AP also listed a second supermoon for Nov. 24 and a final, Christmas Eve supermoon that spans the night of Dec. 23 into Dec. 24, adding that it would pass within 221,668 miles (356,740 kilometers) of Earth.
The year’s “cosmic wonders” were not limited to the moon and sun. The AP said a recently discovered comet, 3I/Atlas, is fading after swinging past Earth in December and that scientists expect more interstellar visitors, described as the third known interstellar object. NASA’s Paul Chodas, who is said to have been “on the lookout since the 1980s,” told the AP: “I can’t believe it’s taken this long to find three,” and he added that with better technology, “the chance of catching another interstellar visitor will increase.”
The roundup also pointed to the kind of sky effects that can be tied to solar activity, including auroras. It said the sun is expected to produce more eruptions in 2026 that could lead to geomagnetic storms on Earth, which in turn can produce aurora displays. The AP cited NOAA forecaster Rob Steenburgh as saying the year will be “an exciting year for space weather enthusiasts,” and it said a newly launched observatory in fall will provide more solar wind measurements, helping scientists “better understand our nearest star and forecast its impacts.”