Astroblog: 2026: From "Mini" Moons to "Super" Moons, a year of full Moons

Wednesday, January 07, 2026

2026: From "Mini" Moons to "Super" Moons, a year of full Moons


Full Moon January 03, 20:33 ACDST (Moon below horizon, moon at 22:00 shown).	Full Moon February 2, 08:39 ACDST (Moon at 22:00 shown).	Full Moon March 3, 22:08 ACDST, Total Lunar Eclipse.

Full Moon April 02, 12:42 ACST FM9:30 (Moon below horizon, moon at 21:00 shown).	Full Moon May, 2 02:52 ACST (shown at 18:58 ACST)	Full Moon May 31 18:17 ACST Antares is just coming out of occultation ("Blue" apogee moon +19hrs apogee 15:02 1st June, Full Moon 19:15 31st.)

Full Moon June 30 09:27 ACST, shown at 18:49 ACST.	Full Moon July 30 00:06 ACST.	Full Moon August 28 13:48 ACST (Moon shown at 19:18 ACST)

Full Moon September 27 02:19 ACST	Full Moon October 26 14:42 ACDST (Moon shown at 21:11 ACDST)	Full Moon November 25 01:23 ACDST (Perigee, 25th 21:59 ACDST +20h, Moon shown at Perigee time)

Full Moon December 24 11:58 ACDST ( Perigee, 24th 9:31 ACDST +7h) Moon below horizon at both times, and show at 21:49 ACDST	First Quarter perigee moon at 21:58 ACDST on February 24. Actual First Quarter is 8:48 on the 25th and perigee is 21:58 (a 1 day 10 hour difference).	First Quarter apogee moon at 19:34 ACST on September 19, actual First Quarter is 07:19, apogee is 13:30 (an ~6 hour difference). The size difference will be clear in telescopes.

First Quarter Moon at 21:20 ACST (10:50 UT) on April 24. The inset shows the Lunar X (top) and Lunar V (bottom), the dates and times that the Lunar X can be seen are shown in the table below	First Quarter Moon at 20:11 ACST (9:41 UT) on June 22. The inset shows the Lunar X (top) and Lunar V (bottom),	First Quarter Moon at 16:07 ACST (05:37 UT) on October 18. The moon is in daylight, but the lunar X is still visible in twilight.The inset shows the Lunar X (top) and Lunar V (bottom),

Dates and time Lunar X and V are visible. Typically visible from about 4hours from the starting time, times in colour are daylight saving times.

Date	UT	AEST	ACST	AWST
Feb 24	0731	18:30	18:01	15:31 (WA: X visible at twilight and when sky is full dark).
Apr 24	10:50	21:50	21:20	18:50
June 22	09:41	20:41	20:11	17:41 (WA: X visible at twilight better when sky is full dark)
Aug 20	06:30	17:30	17:00	14:30 (moon in twilight on east coast, daylight WA, but X still visible in twilight)
Oct 18	05:37	16:37	16:07	13:37 (moon in daylight, X but still visible in twilight)
Dec 16	09:35	20:35	20:05	17:35 (moon in twilight on east coast, daylight WA, but X still visible in when full dark in all states)

A year of full Moons showing the variation in size as the moons move from perigee to apogee. I also show the apogee and perigee First Quarter Moons and the dates and times you can see the Lunar X and V. All the moons are shown on the day and time they are full (unless they are below the horizon, in which case the size at astronomical twilight is shown and the time of actual full moon is shown as well), and although this is not the optimal time for size comparisons, you can clearly see the size difference over the year (compare May 31 to December 24) the original scale for all is 2 degrees of field of view cropped down). Although the field rotation of the Moon makes it less clear, you can also see the effect of libration (January 3 vs October 26)

In 2025 we have a good Perigee Moon (December 24). However, as you can see the differences are subtle, and it requires a keen eye and good memory to distinguish a perigee "super" Moon from more ordinary moons, the best contrast is with the apogee "mini" moon of May 31.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't try though. Daniel Fischer has been able to see the difference, you can read his account and viewing tips here:
http://earthsky.org/space/can-you-discern-supermoons-large-size-with-the-eye-an-observer-says-yes

Photographing them can be more rewarding. You can see images of perigee Moon and apogee Moon pairs from 21 Jan 2019 here and 10 August 2014 here.Tips for photographing them are here.