RARE COSMIC COINCIDENCE

 Hey, Space Placers!

The January full moon is the Wolf Moon and it’s a supermoon. It’ll occur overnight on January 2-3. The crest of the full moon falls at 10:03 UTC on January 3. That’s 4:03 a.m. CST for folks in central North America. So the moon will be at its fullest on the morning of January 3, but it will appear full on both nights, January 2 and 3. It will glow near bright Jupiter and the twin stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux.

The sky is off to a great start for 2026 as Saturday holds four sky events for stargazers, including a rare celestial coincidence involving the sun and moon.

First up on Saturday morning is the full wolf supermoon that occurs at 5:03 am EST https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-january  and can be seen in the West before dawn. Brilliant Jupiter will be nearby too. You can also use this website to determine moonrise/moonset for your location. This is the fourth in a row full supermoon https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-a-supermoon/ and the first full moon for 2026 and winter. 

You can also check out Friday night as Jupiter and the almost full wolf supermoon will be visible in the East right after sunset so get those smartphones and cameras ready.

Next up on Saturday the Earth is closest to the Sun, known as perihelion  https://earthsky.org/tonight/earth-comes-closest-to-sun-every-year-in-early-january/  at 12:16 p.m. EST. Distance will be 91,403,637 miles (147,099,894 km). 

Our rare cosmic coincidence Saturday involves January’s supermoon and perihelion occurring on the same day.     

As stated by EarthSky (edited for brevity):  “A cool cosmic coincidence kicks off 2026! The first full moon of the year on January 2-3 – a supermoon – will coincide with Earth’s closest approach to the sun, known as perihelion. That means the Earth, moon, and sun will all be unusually close and aligned as the new year begins. This triple event – closest moon, full moon, closest sun – is rare. A famous example was January 1912. Experts later speculated that a supermoon near the sun’s 1912 perihelion might have dislodged an iceberg that drifted south for several months before striking the Titanic. There’s no way to know if that’s true. But the supermoon and perihelion of 2026 will have effects, some of which you can see (as explained in the video).”

Saturday after sunset the very bright almost full wolf moon meets up with brilliant Jupiter in the East after sunset. The two will be close together and quite the sky sight with the moon illusion https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/the-moon-illusion-why-does-the-moon-look-so-big-sometimes/.  Get out those smartphones and cameras for a beautiful astropic session.

Jupiter is at its best and brightest for 2026 in January as it reaches opposition on the 10th https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/jupiter-at-opposition-closest-brightest-best/ . If Santa got you a telescope or binoculars Jupiter must be on your list of things to see with them.

Oh, and while you are up and about on Saturday night, don’t forget the Quadrantid meteor shower https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-quadrantid-meteor-shower/  . The bright moon causes very poor viewing conditions this year but the shower produces bright meteors that should still be visible. Best time to view is after midnight to dawn. Bundle up, get a warm drink and friends to enjoy this sky sight. You can also tune in to listen live to the Quadrantids https://www.livemeteors.com/ .

Check the Clear Sky Chart https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/ for your location for January 3-4. If you have a partly cloudy sky forecast during these sky events it is still worth looking as clouds can spectacularly add to the view and images.

See what else the sky has in store for us in January https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2026/01/eyes-to-the-skies-for-january-quadrantids-meteor-shower-winter-constellations-are-inspiring/ .

Sky Guy in VA