The supermoons of 2026

There are three supermoons in 2026: the Wolf Moon on January 3, the Beaver Moon on November 24, and the Cold Moon on December 24 (December 23 in US time zones). A supermoon is a full moon that arrives near perigee, the closest point in the moon’s orbit, so it looks a little larger and brighter than an average full moon. This guide covers what the term actually means, how big the difference really is, and how to catch each one at its best.

What is a supermoon?

The moon’s orbit is not a circle. It is an ellipse, so the moon’s distance from Earth swings between roughly 356,000 km at perigee and 406,000 km at apogee over each month. When a full moon happens to land near perigee, the disk we see is measurably larger and brighter than usual. That coincidence is a supermoon.

The word is informal. Astronomers call the alignment a perigee syzygy: syzygy is the lining up of sun, Earth, and moon that produces a full moon, and perigee marks the close approach. The popular term came from astrology in the 1970s and stuck because it is easier to say. There is no official cutoff, but the most common definition counts a full moon as super when the moon is within about 90 percent of its closest approach to Earth for that orbit. By that measure 2026 has three, clustered at the start and end of the year.

How much bigger does it really look?

Less than the headlines suggest. A typical supermoon appears about 7 percent larger and around 15 percent brighter than an average full moon. Against a micromoon, a full moon near apogee, the gap widens to roughly 14 percent in size and about 30 percent in brightness.

Honestly, the difference is hard to notice by eye. With no ruler in the sky, a 7 percent change in a small bright disk is at the edge of what anyone can perceive. What people usually remember as a giant moon is the moon illusion: any full moon looks huge when it sits low on the horizon near buildings or hills, and that trick of perception does far more than perigee ever will. The honest takeaway is that a supermoon is a real, measurable event, and the best way to enjoy one is to catch it low, where the illusion and the physics work together.

Supermoon dates for 2026

2026 opens and closes with supermoons, with a long gap in between.

• Wolf Moon, January 3, 2026 (10:03 UTC). The year’s first full moon is also its first supermoon, a bright start to 2026 on a long winter night. Details on the Wolf Moon page.
• Beaver Moon, November 24, 2026 (14:53 UTC). After ten months without one, the supermoons return in late autumn. This is the closest pairing of full moon and perigee in the back half of the year, and with early sunsets the moonrise window is easy to catch. Details on the Beaver Moon page.
• Cold Moon, December 24, 2026 (01:28 UTC, the evening of December 23 in US time zones). The last full moon of the year is the last of its supermoons, riding high through the longest nights and lighting up any snow on the ground. Details on the Cold Moon page.

The full list of the year’s full moons, including the May 31 blue moon and the lunar eclipses in March and August, is in the 2026 full moon calendar.

The June micromoon, for contrast

The flip side arrives midyear. The Strawberry Moon on June 29, 2026 is a micromoon: it reaches full while the moon sits near apogee, its farthest point from Earth. It looks slightly smaller and dimmer than average, about 14 percent smaller than a supermoon. Nothing about it is worse to look at, but if you observe or photograph both the June micromoon and the November or December supermoon with the same setup, the size difference is real and shows up clearly in a side-by-side comparison. That pair of shots is one of the few honest ways to see what perigee actually does.

Why supermoons matter

For photographers, a supermoon is a modest but genuine bonus. The disk is a few percent wider, so a long lens resolves a little more detail, and the extra brightness buys slightly faster shutter speeds at moonrise. The bigger win is the occasion itself: a named, dated event is a good excuse to plan a proper moonrise shoot. Our guide to photographing the full moon covers the timing and settings.

For coastlines, perigee has a measurable pull. Tides are already at their monthly peak around the full moon, when sun and moon tug in line. When that full moon also falls near perigee, the range stretches a little further, producing what are called perigean spring tides. The extra rise is usually a matter of a few centimeters to several centimeters, not a dramatic surge, but in low-lying areas it can be enough to nudge minor coastal flooding, especially if a storm arrives on the same tide.

How to see a supermoon well

Do not wait for the moon to climb. High in a dark sky, a supermoon is just a very bright disk, and the 7 percent will not register. Instead:

• Watch at moonrise. On the night of the full moon, the moon clears the eastern horizon close to sunset. Low against a skyline it looks enormous, courtesy of the moon illusion, and the warm light makes the scene worth watching even without a camera.
• Look up the exact time for your spot. Moonrise shifts by about 50 minutes a day and varies with location, so check the time for the specific evening and be in position 15 to 20 minutes early.
• Pick a foreground. Hills, rooftops, or trees on the eastern skyline give the disk scale and make the size obvious in a way empty sky never does.
• Try the night before too. The moon is nearly as full and rises earlier, often in better light.

Gibbous tracks the moon’s real distance from Earth alongside its phase, so it flags supermoons and micromoons for you and shows exactly how close or far the moon is on any night. Turn on alerts and it will nudge you before each of the three 2026 supermoons, with the moonrise time for the exact place you plan to watch from.