January’s full wolf supermoon and the Quadrantid meteor shower will start off the new year

A supermoon appears to rise next to a skyscraper in Madrid in January 2018. The wolf moon will be 2026’s first supermoon. (Paul Hanna/Reuters via CNN Newsource)

The wolf moon, the first full moon of the year, will ring in 2026, gracing the sky this weekend, but the lunar event will make the Quadrantid meteor shower a bit harder to spot.

The silvery orb will start to look large in the sky around New Year’s Eve and will reach peak illumination at 5:03 a.m. ET Saturday, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

“The day before January 3 and the day after, the moon will appear full,” said Noah Petro, chief of NASA’s Planetary, Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

As a result of the wolf moon’s brightness from reflected sunlight, viewing the Quadrantid meteor shower won’t be easy.

The Quadrantids will reach peak activity from 4 to 7 p.m. ET Saturday, according to Robert Lunsford, fireball report coordinator for the American Meteor Society. However, the best viewing will be from midnight to dawn ET Sunday, Lunsford said.

One of the year’s three supermoons

January’s wolf moon will also be 2026’s first supermoon, which generally indicates a full moon that’s closer than normal to Earth and seems larger and brighter in the sky. The wintry orb will be one of the three closest moons to Earth this year, with the cold moon in December expected to be the closest, according to Petro.

However, Petro noted the difference between a supermoon and a full moon is subtle. “You have to be looking to see it,” he added.

To help spot the differences, NASA offers an animation depicting the lunar phases for 2026, allowing sky watchers to visualize the moon throughout the year.

For optimal viewing, local conditions allowing, you don’t need special glasses — you can safely observe the moon with your eyes or use a telescope or binoculars for a closer look, Petro said. It’s ideal to find a dark place with a clear view of the horizon, but if that’s not possible, your favorite beach or hangout spot works, too.

“Being in a place that is meaningful and enjoying the full moon makes it that much more special,” Petro added.

An eye on the moon and a future mission

With NASA’s Artemis II expected to send a four-person crew around the moon as soon as early February, Petro encourages people to observe Earth’s closest celestial neighbor in the lead-up to the highly anticipated mission. It will mark the first time astronauts venture beyond near-Earth orbit in more than 50 years.

“Go out and look up and just become awestruck” at January’s supermoon, he said.

As you take in the orb, you can imagine what it might be like for the Artemis II astronauts, who if successful could fly by the moon and see its far side. Petro, who leads the science team of NASA’s Artemis III mission, explained that these astronauts will be looking at features that we can’t see on Earth.

Petro recommends that sky-gazers start their own mental countdown to Artemis II, suggesting that folks “pay attention to the phases of the moon.”

How January’s full moon got its name

January’s wolf moon is named for the increased howling of wolves during this time of year, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

“We describe names to full moons based on what is happening around that time,” Petro added.

The origin of the name comes from the Sioux language, which describes this moon as “wolves run together.”

Alternative names come from other Indigenous tribes, such as mkokisis, meaning “moon of the bear” to the Potawatomi people, and wiotehika wi, meaning “hard moon” to the Lakota.

Moonlight will be a challenge for meteor watchers

The Quadrantid meteor shower will be active through January 16.

The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Boötes, also known as the herdsman, the American Meteor Society’s Lunsford said via email. The region was once called Quadrans Muralis, which is how the Quadrantids got their name, he added.

With the full moon at 100 per cent illumination this weekend, a great majority of the activity will be obscured by the bright moonlight, Lunsford said. However, he suggested you could increase your chances by facing northeast with the bright moon at your back.

With clear skies, he said, you could see up to five Quadrantid meteors per hour and possibly another five random meteors.

Lunsford noted the Quadrantids tend to travel at “medium velocity with the brightest ones showing persistent trails that last for a few seconds after the meteor has disappeared.”

The Quadrantids are known for producing bright fireballs. However, if you are in North America, the odds of seeing the Quadrantids’ fireballs are slim, according to Lunsford. But don’t worry if you miss this meteor shower. There will be plenty of others in 2026.

Around August 12-13, the Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak, and conditions should be ideal for viewing, with dark skies thanks to a new moon, according to EarthSky.

Upcoming meteor showers

After the peak of the Quadrantids, sky-gazers will have to wait until the Lyrid meteor shower in April.

Here are the dates for the rest of the meteor showers peaking in 2026, according to the American Meteor Society.

• Lyrids: April 21-22
• Eta Aquariids: May 5-6
• Southern Delta Aquariids: July 30-31
• Alpha Capricornids: July 30-31
• Perseids: August 12-13
• Orionids: October 21-22
• Southern Taurids: November 4-5
• Northern Taurids: November 11-12
• Leonids: November 16-17
• Geminids: December 13-14
• Ursids: December 21-22

Upcoming full moons

Here are the rest of the full moons of 2026, as well as their nicknames, according to the Farmers’ Almanac:

• February 1: Snow moon
• March 3: Worm moon
• April 1: Pink moon
• May 1: Flower moon
• May 31: Blue moon
• June 29: Strawberry moon
• July 29: Buck moon
• August 28: Sturgeon moon
• September 26: Harvest moon
• October 26: Hunter’s moon
• November 24: Beaver moon
• December 23: Cold moon

Lily Hautau, CNN