Once the Winter Solstice is over, we can turn our attention to the New Year and
ponder what astronomical delights await in 2026 over Edinburgh and Lothian:
highlights include a partial solar eclipse, a partial lunar eclipse, a seasonal
blue Moon and a man-made spacecraft reaches a spectacular milestone.
Astronomical seasons for 2026 start with Spring which begins on the Vernal
Equinox on 20 March at 2:46 pm and lasts 92 days, 17 hours and 38 minutes.
Summer begins on the Summer Solstice on 21 June at 9:24 am and lasts 93 days,
15 hours and 40 minutes. Autumn returns on the Autumnal Equinox on 23 September
at 1:05 am and lasts 89 days, 20 hours and 45 minutes. Finally, Winter begins
on the December Solstice on 21 December at 8:50 pm and lasts 88 days, 23 hours
and 34 minutes.
Edinburgh and Lothian will see a partial Solar eclipse on 12 August but it will
be a good one with a magnitude of 0.919 meaning a substantial fraction of the
Sun’s disk will be covered. Of course, we urge readers never to look at the Sun
with the naked, unprotected, eye even during a partial Solar eclipse as eye
damage can occur very quickly. The eclipse at our location will begin at 6:08
pm, reach maximum at 7:05 pm and end at 8:00 pm. The duration, therefore, is 1
hour and 51 minutes. Although the Sun is setting, the full eclipse should be
visible.
Our location will also witness a partial Lunar eclipse on 28 August beginning
at 2:23 am and lasting 3 hours 56 minutes. The eclipse magnitude is a healthy
0.93 and moon-set and atmospheric reddening should produce the `Blood Moon’
effect. The latter parts of the eclipse will be hampered by civil twilight and
sunrise but the full eclipse should be viewable.
The Moon will have 12 new and first quarter phases but 13 full and last quarter
phases. An astronomical blue (black) moon is the third of four full (new) moons
in an astronomical season. A calendar blue (black) moon is the second full (new)
moon within a single calendar month. So, 2026 will have no black Moons and 1
seasonal blue Moon in May with the full Moon being visible on 1 and 31 May. The
longest lunation (lunar cycle between New Moon phases) will occur during
December’s Cold Moon and last 29 days, 19 hours and 32 minutes. The shortest
lunation happens with the June Strawberry Moon and lasts 29 days, 6 hours and
50 minutes.
The Moon will undergo 13 apogees (furthest from Earth) but 14 perigees (closest
to Earth) during 2026. The minimum apogee will be on 19 September (404,217 km)
and the maximum apogee on 11 December (406,421 km). The minimum perigee will be
on 24 December (356,650 km) and the maximum perigee on 24 February (370,132 km).
A full Moon at perigee, technically known as a perigee syzygy, is commonly
called a supermoon. In 2026 we can expect 3 supermoons in January, November and
December. The December (full) supermoon will appear the biggest in the sky since
it will be the closest to the Earth of the 3.
Conversely, an apogee syzygy is called a micromoon and 2026 will witness 3.
Two of these micromoons will be in May and the other in June. Indeed the
seasonal Blue Moon in May will be the smallest seasonal Blue Micromoon since
it occurs during the furthest apogee.
There are also micromoons and supermoons when the Moon is new but these cannot
be seen. For completeness, though, Earth will witness 1 new micromoon (in
December) and 5 consecutive new supermoons starting in April with the biggest in
June.
The Moon will also conjunct with several well-known astronomical objects
throughout the year: the Pleiades (M45) in Taurus (The Bull), Spica in Virgo
(The Maiden) and Antares in Scorpius (The Scorpion) will all conjunct a dozen
times with the Moon over the year. Pollux in Gemini (The Twins) and Regulus in
Leo (The Lion) conjunct with the Moon 13 times during 2026.
Earth’s closest approach to the Sun, perihelion, will occur on 3 January at
5:25 pm where the Earth lies some 147,099,895 km (0.983 AU) distant with the
Sun in Sagittarius (The Archer). Earth’s furthest distance from the Sun,
aphelion, will occur on 6 July at 5:32 pm where the Earth lies some 152,087,774
km (0.983 AU) distant with the Sun in Gemini (The Twins).
For the inferior planets: Mercury reaches maximum perihelion on 10 November and
maximum aphelion on 6 January. It is closest to Earth on 10 July and furthest
away on 28 December. Venus reaches aphelion on 22 January and perihelion on 15
May. It is closest to Earth on 25 October and furthest away on 8 January.
For the superior planets: Mars reaches perihelion on 26 March and aphelion on
1 January (2027). It is also closest to Earth on 31 December and furthest away
on (this) New Year’s Day. Jupiter reaches perihelion on 1 January and aphelion
on 31 December. It is closest to Earth on 9 January and furthest away on 30 July.
Saturn reaches perihelion on 31 December and aphelion on 1 January. It is closest
to Earth on 4 October and furthest away on 25 March.
Since all planets lie very close to the ecliptic, there are many planetary
conjunctions during the year but occultations are rarer. Mercury will be
occulted by the waxing crescent Moon on 18 February. Venus undergoes 3
lunar occultations: The first on 17 June, the second on 14 September and the
last on 7 November. The Moon phase will be waxing crescent during for the first
2 occultations and waning crescent for the last Venusian occultation. Mars will
be occulted by a waning crescent Moon on 5 October and again on 2 November.
Jupiter is occulted by a waning crescent Moon on 8 September, 6 October and
2 November. It is them re-occulted by the waning gibbous Moon on 30 November.
Although there are no inferior planet transits of the Sun visible from Earth in
2026, there are 3 transits visible from other planets. Jupiter will witness an
Earth/Moon transit on 10 January. Uranus will witness an Earth/Moon transit on
25 November. Neptune will see Mars crossing the Solar disk on 5 May.
The Messier Marathon is an amateur competition to observer all 110 Messier
objects in a single night. This can only be done at mid-northern latitudes but
the weekend of 21 March is best with a trial run a week earlier. You can also
observe all planets except Saturn which is impossible on those dates but
Mercury and Mars are also difficult.
Latest calculations suggest 38 meteor showers may have naked-eye visibility in
- If we restrict ourselves to nighttime observing and those that have a
Zenith Hourly Rate (ZHR) above 20, so producing the most shooting stars or
fireballs, we should be ready to observe the peak of the Quadrantids (010 QUA)
on 3 January, the $\eta$–Aquariids (031 ETA) on 6 May, the southern delta
Aquariids (005 SDA) on 31 July, the spectacular Perseids (007 PER) on 13 August,
the Orionids (008 ORI) on 21 October and the equally spectacular (and highlight
of the year) Geminids (004 GEM) on 14 December. However, with more than 7,000
Starlink satellites in orbit, be wary of false positives!
It is difficult to predict comet visibility for 2026. None are expected to
achieve naked eye observability but 3 may be amenable to binoculars or a modest
telescope. Look for 10P/Tempel in July, 24P/Schaumasse in January, and 2024 E1
(Wierzchos) in February.
On 13 November 2026 Voyager I, launched on 5 September 1977, will reach a
milestone in unmanned space flight when it will be 1 full light-day from Earth!
