Supermoon 2026: when is the next supermoon, and how super is it?

The next supermoon is the Beaver Moon on 24 November 2026, at 14:53 UT. One month later comes the Cold Moon of 24 December 2026, at 01:28 UT (the evening of 23 December in the Americas). At 356,729 km, it is the closest full moon of 2026. NASA lists both as the coming supermoons. Depending on the rule, January and even February 2027 have one too.

UT is Universal Time, the time in London in winter. A full moon is one moment, the same for everyone; the local date and time depend on your time zone. Distances in this article are between the centres of Earth and the Moon.

What is a supermoon?

The Moon's orbit around Earth is slightly oval. Its closest point is called perigee and its farthest point apogee. In December 2026 the Moon is 406,407 km away at apogee (11 December) and 356,641 km at perigee (24 December), in our calculation with Astronomy Engine.

A full moon happens when the Moon is on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun. NASA puts it like this: "When the Moon is at its closest point to Earth during a full Moon phase, that's a 'supermoon'." In practice the name is used for a full moon that comes within "at least 90 percent of perigee", NASA says, and it adds that supermoon "isn't an official astronomical term". Royal Museums Greenwich writes that the term "originates from a concept in astrology"; Wikipedia credits the astrologer Richard Nolle, in 1979.

What does "90 percent" mean? Take the distance range between the apogee and perigee just before and after a full moon. A full moon counts if it falls in the closest 10 percent of that range. On 24 December 2026 the full moon is 99.8% of the way from apogee to perigee, so it clearly counts. The Moon reaches perigee about 7 hours after the full moon.

Supermoons in 2026 and 2027: why the lists disagree

Our two calculations of the 90 percent rule give different results, and NASA and RMG publish different upcoming dates. Their pages do not explain exactly how those lists were made. We compared all four:

• 90% per orbit: compare the full moon with the perigee and apogee immediately before and after it.
• 90% per calendar year: compare it with the year's closest perigee and farthest apogee. Our full moon calendar uses this rule.
• NASA's list: NASA's Supermoons page (updated 12 February 2026) names 24 November and 24 December 2026.
• Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG): names 24 December 2026 and 22 January 2027.

All four agree on one date: 24 December 2026. The full moon of 3 January 2026 counts only by the per-orbit rule and is on neither list, and the same goes for 20 February 2027, about 23 hours after Mars' closest approach to Earth (see our Mars article). The Hunter's Moon of 26 October 2026 (88.9%) falls below both calculated thresholds and is on neither list.

How much bigger and brighter does a supermoon look?

Less than many headlines suggest. NASA says the full Moon at its closest can look "up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter" than the faintest Moon of the year, when it is farthest away. It also says the size difference is hard to notice.

Our calculation for 2026 and 2027 agrees. The closest full moon (24 December 2026, 356,729 km) is 13.8% wider than the farthest (31 May 2026, 406,126 km): 33.5 against 29.4 arcminutes. An arcminute is 1/60 of a degree. If brightness simply follows distance (a simplification), it is about 29.6% brighter.

Compared with a full moon at the average distance of these 25 full moons (383,955 km), the December supermoon is only about 7.6% wider and 15.8% brighter. The November supermoon is about 6.4% wider than that. You will hardly see that by eye without a side-by-side photo. What you may notice is the brighter moonlight.

When and where to watch the supermoon

You do not need to catch the exact minute. On the November, December and January evenings we checked in the four cities below, the Moon was more than 97% lit at moonrise, so it looks full on more than one night. The most striking moment is moonrise: the Moon comes up in the east around sunset and looks big and orange near the horizon. That bigger look is the Moon illusion, NASA explains, a trick of our eye and brain, not a real change in size.

Sunset and moonrise in our calculation (local time, flat horizon):

On 23 December the Moon rises before sunset in all four cities; on 24 December it rises after sunset, in a darker sky. On 24 November it rises shortly before sunset. Look east with a clear view of the horizon. Our Tonight page shows moonrise for your own location, and our Moon photography guide explains how to photograph it.

How rare is a supermoon?

Not very. NASA wrote in 2023 that "about 25% of all full moons are supermoons". By the per-orbit 90% rule it is even more: in our calculation, 446 of the 1,373 full moons from 1940 to 2050 count, about one in three. They come in runs of four or five full moons in a row, with a new run starting every 12 to 14 months, because the timing of perigee and full moon shifts slowly from month to month (our calculation: 99 runs from 1940 to 2050).

What is rare is an exceptionally close full moon. On 14 November 2016 the full moon came closer than any since 1948, NASA said at the time. Our calculation agrees: 356,511 km, the closest since 26 January 1948 (356,482 km). The next full moon to come closer is on 25 November 2034. The closest full moons from 1940 to 2050 in our calculation:

The supermoon of 24 December 2026 ranks 25th of all 1,373 full moons in this period. The differences at the top are small: the closest five are within 83 km of each other.

Supermoon FAQ

When is the next supermoon? On 24 November 2026 (Beaver Moon, 14:53 UT), followed by 24 December 2026 (Cold Moon, 01:28 UT). By some rules, 22 January 2027 follows too.

How many supermoons are there in 2026? It depends on the rule. By the per-orbit 90% rule three: 3 January, 24 November and 24 December. By the calendar-year rule two: 24 November and 24 December, the two that NASA lists.

Is it a supermoon tonight? Not on 12 October 2026, when we wrote this: the next one is on 24 November. The Moon looks full on more than one night, so the evenings of 23 and 24 November and of 23 and 24 December 2026 are good. Our Tonight page shows when the Moon rises where you are.

How often is there a supermoon? By the per-orbit rule, a run of four or five supermoons in a row starts every 12 to 14 months. NASA says about a quarter of all full moons are supermoons; by the per-orbit rule it is about a third.

Which full moon is the closest? In 2026 and 2027 it is the Cold Moon of 24 December 2026, at 356,729 km. The closest of the whole period from 1940 to 2050 is the full moon of 25 November 2034.

Does a supermoon affect the tides? It can raise high tides. NASA says a supermoon "can cause higher tides than usual". NOAA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, calls these perigean spring tides: they happen when a new or full moon comes close to perigee, "typically between 6-8 times each year". High tides are then often "more than a foot higher" than spring tides near apogee, NOAA writes; how much depends on the place.

Why does the Moon look so big tonight? Probably the Moon illusion. A low Moon near the horizon looks bigger to our eye and brain, NASA explains, but it is not. A supermoon is only a few percent wider than an average full moon.

Is a supermoon the same as a blood moon? No. A "blood moon" is a popular name for a total lunar eclipse, when Earth's shadow can turn the Moon red. The most recent was on 3 March 2026; the next total lunar eclipse is on 31 December 2028, according to NASA's eclipse list. A supermoon can coincide with a lunar eclipse: the photo above shows the supermoon of September 2024 during a partial eclipse, which is not a blood moon. On 20 February 2027 a penumbral eclipse, which only dims the Moon slightly, falls on a full moon that is a supermoon by the per-orbit rule.

What is the rarest moon? There is no official "rarest moon". Combinations are rare. A Blue Moon is not blue: it is a name for the second full moon in a calendar month, or the third full moon in a season that has four. A super blue moon is both a supermoon and a Blue Moon. NASA wrote in 2023 that the next ones will occur in a pair in January and March 2037.

How we checked

The full moon times come from the US Naval Observatory. We calculated the Earth-Moon distance at each full moon, the perigee and apogee times and distances, the moonrise and sunset times (city-centre coordinates, sea level, flat horizon) and all full moons from 1940 to 2050 with Astronomy Engine 2.1.19. The apparent sizes use a Moon radius of 1,737.4 km; the brightness comparison assumes that brightness scales with one over the distance squared, which is a simplification.

We applied the 90 percent rule in two ways (per orbit and per calendar year) and compared the result with the published lists of NASA (Supermoons page, updated 12 February 2026) and Royal Museums Greenwich. NASA gives 14:54 UTC for the November full moon; we use the Naval Observatory's 14:53. The tide information comes from NOAA, the eclipse dates from NASA's eclipse list (calculations by Fred Espenak), the Moon illusion from NASA, and the 2016 and 2023 statements from NASA's photo captions. The photos are from NASA (public domain); the charts and diagrams are our own. None of the images is AI-generated.