Night sky in December 2026
What to see in the night sky in December 2026: Moon phases, the darkest nights for the Milky Way, planets, meteor showers and other events, with dates and times.
Geminids meteor shower 2026
Peak night, up to 150 meteors an hour under a dark sky. The Moon is almost out of the way — a good year.
December solstice 2026
The longest night of the year in the north — the most hours of darkness for stargazing.
Ursids meteor shower 2026
Peak night, up to 10 meteors an hour under a dark sky. A bright Moon (94%) washes out faint meteors; only the brightest will show.
Supermoon: Cold Moon, 24 December 2026
The full Moon is near perigee (356,738 km), so it looks up to 7% bigger and 15% brighter than average.
Moon phases
- New Moon · 00:51 UTC
- Full Moon · Cold Moon · 01:28 UTC
Darkest nights
Around the new moon the sky is darkest — the best nights for the Milky Way, faint galaxies and astrophotography: 5 Dec – 13 Dec.