Tuesday, December 23, 2025
Coming Events: A Year of Southern Astronomy for 2026
The table below shows significant astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2026 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific).
This year we get a good Total Lunar eclipse visible Australia wide and at a good time in the evening so all can watch. There are good oppositions of Jupiter and Saturn and a daytime occultation of Jupiter.
As well we have some fantastic parings and lineups and good meteor showers.
Close pairings of the Moon and bright planets are given special attention as not only is the Moon a ready guide to locating the planets if you are not familiar with them, these massings are rather beautiful.
Special events are bolded. T indicates a telescope only event. As well as apogee and perigee moons I have also included times when the Lunar X is visible at First Quarter.
| Date | Event |
| January | |
| 03 January 2026 | Full Moon |
| 04 January 2026 | Earth at Perihelion. |
| 04 January 2026 | Moon close to Jupiter in the morning |
| 07 January 2026 | Moon close to Regulus in the morning. |
| 10 January 2026 | Jupiter at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth |
| 11 January 2026 | Moon close to Spica |
| 15 January 2026 | Moon close to Antares in the morning (occultation 4:37 AEDST, 18:00–19:22 UT 14th) |
| 23 January 2026 | Saturn near crescent Moon in evening (4° apart) |
| 26 January 2026 | First Quarter |
| 28 January 2026 | Moon near Pleiades |
| 30 January 2026 | Moon at perigee. |
| 31 January 2026 | Moon close to Jupiter |
| February | |
| 01 February 2026 | Moon near Beehive cluster (1.3° apart) |
| 02 February 2026 | Full Moon Moon near Regulus |
| 11 February 2026 | Moon near Antares |
| 020 February 2026 | Moon near Saturn in evening twilight (5° apart) |
| 24 February 2026 | Moon near Pleiades |
| 24 February 2026 | waxing Moon near Jupiter in the evening (4° apart) |
| 24 February 2026 | "Lunar X" visible in telescopes at twilight (from 07:31 UT on for ~ 4 hours) T (perigee First Quarter) |
| 27 February 2026 | Moon close to Jupiter (4° apart) |
| March | |
| 2 March 2026 | Moon Near Regulus (0.4° apart) |
| 3 March 2026 | Full Moon, Total Luna Eclipse early evening |
| 10 March 2026 | Moon near Antares |
| 16 March 2026 | Mercury and Mars close in the morning twilight (4° apart) |
| 21 March 2026 | Earth at Equinox |
| 26 March 2026 | Moon close to Jupiter (4° apart) |
| 29 March 2026 | Moon close to Regulus (closest early morning 30th) |
| April | |
| 02 April 2026 | Full Moon |
| 07 April 2026 | Moon close to Antares (0.7° apart) |
| 15-16 April 2026 | Thin crescent Moon forms lineup with Mercury, Mars and Saturn in the Morning twilight. Mars around 4° from thin crescent Moon on the 16th |
| 19 April 2026 | Venus near to thin crescent moon in evening twilight (4.7° apart) |
| 19 -22 April 2026 | Mercury, Mars and Saturn form a triangle in the morning twilight. Mercury and Saturn closest on the 20th. |
| 23 April 2026 | Waxing Moon close to Jupiter (3.6° apart) in the evening |
| 24 April 2026 | "Lunar X" visible from 10:50 UT T |
| 26 April 2026 | Waxing moon close to Regulus in early evening |
| May | |
| 02 May 2026 | Full Moon |
| 02 May 2026 | Venus close to the Red star Aldebaran in the evening twilight |
| 04 May 2026 | Moon close to Antares in the morning twilight |
| 6-7 May 2026 | Eta Aquariid meteor shower |
| 14 May 2026 | Crescent Moon near Saturn in the morning twilight (3°) |
| 15 May 2026 | Crescent Moon near Mars in the morning twilight (3°) |
| 19 May 2026 | Crescent Moon near Venus in the evening twilight (3°) |
| 20 May 2026 | Crescent Moon near Jupiter in the evening twilight (3°) |
| 23 May 2026 | Moon close to Antares in the evening twilight (0.4°) |
| 31 May 2026 | Full Moon (Blue Moon and apogee Moon, apogee June 1 ) |
| June | |
| 08 June 2026 | Venus near to Pollux in the evening twilight (5°) |
| 10 June 2026 | Venus close to Jupiter in the evening twilight (2°) with Mercury below |
| 17 June 2026 | Crescent Moon close to Jupiter in the evening twilight, with Mercury below and Venus above forming a kite pattern |
| 18 June 2026 | Waxing Moon close to Venus in evening twilight (0.3°) |
| 21 June 2026 | Earth at solstice |
| 22 June 2026 | First Quarter, Lunar X visible at 0941 UT T |
| 25 June 2026 | Mercury and Jupiter close in the evening twilight forming a line with Venus |
| 29 June 2026 | Mars near the Pleiades |
| July | |
| 04 July 2026 | Mars close to Uranus (0.5°) between Pleiades and Hyades, Binocular or Telescope. |
| 07 July 2026 | Earth at aphelion |
| 10 July | Venus and the bright star Regulus close. |
| 12 July 2026 | Mars near bright red star Aldebaran (5° apart) |
| 17 July 2026 | Crescent Moon in between Regulus and Venus in the evening twilight |
| 21 July 2026 | Moon near Spica |
| 25 July | Moon near Antares, closest in morning sky |
| 29-30 July 2026 | Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower in morning |
| 30 July 2026 | Full Moon |
| August | |
| 07 August 2026 | Moon close to the Pleiades. |
| 09 August 2026 | Moon close to Mars: 4.4° S |
| 15 August 2026 | Venus, crescent Moon and Spica form a line in evening sky |
| 16 August 2025 | Venus near to the crescent Moon (2°) in the evening sky |
| 17 August 2026 | Moon near Spica (3° apart) in the evening sky |
| 20 August 2026 | Lunar X visible 06:30 UT T, First Quarter Moon |
| 21 August 2026 | Moon close to Antares: 0.7° |
| 28 August 2026 | Full Moon, partial Lunar eclipse |
| September | |
| 01 September 2026 | Venus close to Spica: 1.4° in the evening sky |
| 07 September 2026 | Moon close to Mars: 3° in the morning sky |
| 09 September 2026 | Moon close to Jupiter: 0.8° in the morning twilight. |
| 14 September 2026 | Venus close to crescent Moon (0.6° apart) with Spica and Mercury below in the evening. |
| 17 September 2026 | Moon close to Antares in the evening sky |
| 19 September 2026 | Apogee First Quarter Moon |
| 23 September 2026 | Earth at Equinox |
| 26 September 2026 | Mercury very close to Spica: 0.9° in the evening twilight. With Venus above. |
| 27 September 2026 | Full Moon. |
| October | |
| 04 October 2026 | Saturn Opposition |
| 05 October 2026 | Moon near Mars: 1.2° in the morning |
| 06 October 2026 | Moon close to Jupiter in the morning |
| 07 October 2026 | Mercury near Venus: 5° in the evening twilight. |
| 12 October 2026 | Mars in the heart of the Beehive cluster |
| 12 October 2026 | Moon near Venus 3.3° in the evening twilight with Mercury above |
| 13 October 2026 | Moon near Mercury 2.3° in the evening twilight with Venus below |
| 21-22 October 2026 | Orionid meteor shower |
| 28 October 2026 | Moon close to the Pleiades: 1° |
| November | |
| 2 November 2026 | Waning Moon near near Mars (1° apart) in the late morning sky |
| 3 November 2026 | Waning Moon very near Jupiter (0.5° apart) in the morning sky, daytime occultation. Visible from most of Australia except NE QLD. T |
| 7 November 2026 | Thin crescent moon close to Venus, with Spica nearby, in the morning twilight. |
| 10 November 2026 | Venus close to Spica in morning twilight sky |
| 16 November 2026 | Mars close to Jupiter in the morning twilight, forming a triangle with Regulus. |
| 18/19 November 2026 | Leonid Meteor Shower |
| 25 November 2026 | Full Moon (almost perigee Moon), Mars close to Regulus, forming a triangle with Jupiter, in the morning twilight. |
| 26 November 2026 | Opposition of Uranus (not far from Pleiades, easy binocular target, possible unaided eye) |
| 28 November 2026 | Jupiter, Mars and Regulus form a triangle |
| December | |
| 1 December 2026 | Waning Moon close to Mars, forming an attractive grouping with Jupiter and Regulus |
| 13 December 2026 | Jupiter closest to Regulus (2° apart) in morning sky, forming a shallow triangle with Mars. |
| 14/15 December 2026 | Geminid Meteor shower in the morning |
| 17 December 2026 | First Quarter Moon, Luna X visible 09:35 UT T |
| 22 December 2026 | Earth at solstice |
| 24 December 2025 | Perigee Full Moon (“Super Moon”) |
| 28 December 2025 | Jupiter close to the waning Moon in the morning twilight, forming a triangle with Regulus and with Mars nearby. |
Labels: Asteroid, Conjunction, eclipse, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, Opposition, Saturn, unaided eye, Venus, Yearly Sky Events
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 3:06 pm 
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