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In 2026, the Moon and Sun share the top spot.
This year’s cosmic wonders kicked off with the moon attracting the first astronauts to the moon in more than 50 years and a fleet of robotic lunar landers including Jeff Bezos’ new super-large lunar lander. blue moon. There will be a supermoon on January 3 and an astronomical blue moon in May.
The Sun will also produce an annular eclipse of fire at the bottom of the world in February and a total solar eclipse at the top of the world in August. More auroras are expected to appear in unexpected places, although probably not as frequently as in past years.
What about that comet that strayed into our territory from another star? While the recently discovered comet, known as 3I/Atlas, is still visible with powerful backyard telescopes, it is fading away after its flyby Earth December. Jupiter Next up is the dance card for March. Once this icy alien leaves our solar system in a decade, it will return to interstellar space where it belongs.
This is the third interstellar visitor we know of. Scientists expect more.
“I can’t believe it took this long to find three,” said NASA Paul Chodas, who has been searching since the 1980s. As technology improves, “the chances of capturing another interstellar visitor will increase.”
Here’s a rundown of what the universe has in store for us in 2026:
Next stop, the moon
Reed Wiseman, NASA’s incoming lunar landing commander, says he and his team will likely be the first to set their sights on the vast swathe of the far side of the moon that Apollo astronauts missed half a century ago. He noted that their observations could be a boon to geologists and other experts selecting future landing sites.
Three products launched at the beginning of the year American A Canadian will fly over the moon, turn around behind it and then return directly to Earth, concluding their 10-day mission. No need to stop for a moonwalk—the boot prints will be left by the next group of astronauts in NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program.
Chinese and American companies are planning more robotic moon landings. Earlier this year, Amazon founder Bezos was looking to his Blue Origin rocket company to launch a prototype of its lunar lander designed for NASA astronauts. This Blue Moon demonstration was 26 feet (8 meters) tall, higher than the 12 Apollo moonwalkers reached the lunar surface. The version of Blue Moon intended for crew use is almost twice this height.
Astrobotic Technology and Intuitive Machines also plan to use scientific equipment to land on the moon in 2026, making another attempt to land on the moon. Firefly Aerospace is the only private entity to achieve a lunar landing, with the goal of landing on the far side of the moon in 2026.
China has targeted the Antarctic region in the new year, sending a rover and a so-called hopper vehicle to plunge into permanently shadowed craters in search of ice.
eclipse
On August 12, the universe will go into full force with a total solar eclipse that will begin at the North Pole and travel across Greenland, Iceland and Spain. A total eclipse will last two minutes and 18 seconds when the Moon moves directly between the Earth and Sun, obscuring the latter. In comparison, the 2027 total solar eclipse will provide up to 6 1/2 minutes of totality and pass over more countries.
The warm-up event for 2026 will be the Ring of Fire solar eclipse in Antarctica on February 17, with only a few research stations in prime viewing positions. There will be some viewing in South Africa and as far south as Chile and Argentina. February’s Ring of Fire will be followed by a total lunar eclipse two weeks ago, and a partial lunar eclipse in late August will conclude the event.
parade planets
On or about February 28, six of the eight planets in our solar system will soar across the sky, creating a must-see lineup. The nearly full moon will even appear next to Jupiter. Uranus and Neptune require binoculars or a telescope. However, weather permitting, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn should be visible to the naked eye shortly after sunset, although Mercury and Venus will be lower on the horizon.
Mars will be the only one not present. The good news is that the red planet will be joining August’s six-planet parade, and Venus will be sticking around.
supermoon
Three supermoons will light up the night sky in 2026, a stunning result as the full moon orbits in a less-than-perfect circle that brings it closer to Earth than usual. Supermoons appear bigger and brighter and are a perennial eye-catcher that requires no equipment, just your eyes.
This January’s first supermoon coincides with a meteor shower, but moonlight may obscure the fainter fireball. The second supermoon of 2026 won’t occur until November 24, with the third – the last and most recent supermoon of the year – occurring between the night of December 23 and December 24. This Christmas Eve supermoon will pass within 221,668 miles (356,740 kilometers) of Earth.
Northern Lights and Southern Lights
The Sun is expected to experience more eruptions in 2026, which could cause geomagnetic storms on Earth, producing stunning auroras. However, solar activity should begin to weaken as the 11-year solar cycle finally begins to decline.
Space weather forecasters like NOAA’s Rob Steenburgen can’t wait to take advantage of all the solar wind measurements coming from the observatory launching in the fall.
“2026 will be an exciting year for space weather enthusiasts,” he said in an email. This new spacecraft and others will help scientists “better understand our nearest star and predict its effects.”
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The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Associated Press is solely responsible for all content.