Full moon August 2026: Sturgeon Moon in Pisces

What time is it where you are?

The same instant falls on different dates around the world, so check the date as well as the time.

Moonrise and the highest point

A full moon rises around sunset and climbs highest around the middle of the night. These are the moonrise nearest the exact moment and the Moon's highest point after it, in local time.

Of these cities, it rides highest in Singapore, at 82°, and lowest in London, at 27°.

Height is the angle above the horizon, where 90° would be straight overhead. A full moon near the horizon is the same size as a high one. It only looks bigger.

Why it's called the Sturgeon Moon

Named for the lake sturgeon of the Great Lakes, which were easiest to catch in late summer.

The partial lunar eclipse

At the peak of the eclipse, at 04:12 UTC, the Moon is above the horizon in New York, Los Angeles, São Paulo, London, Madrid, Lagos, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Reykjavik and Johannesburg.

Eclipse visibility is checked at the peak for 20 world cities. Never look at the Sun directly, even during a partial eclipse.

The stars behind this full moon

Signs follow the seasons and constellations are patterns of stars, and the two have drifted apart over the centuries. At 4°54′ Pisces, the Moon actually stands in front of Aquarius, the water bearer, not the constellation Pisces is named after. The Sun, on the far side of the sky at 4°54′ Virgo, is in front of Leo.

More about AquariusWhy signs and constellations differSee the real sky at your own birth

How close is the Moon?

At 390,385 km from Earth, this is the 8th closest of the 13 full moons of 2026. It looks 4% wider than the farthest full moon of the year, on 31 May 2026, a difference that is easier to measure than to see.

Perigee, the closest point of this orbit, comes on 6 September 2026 at 20:44 UTC, 10 days after the exact full moon, at 368,249 km. Apogee, the farthest point, comes on 22 August 2026 at 404,632 km.

The planets at this full moon

Where everything else stands at the exact moment, and any major aspect each planet makes to the Moon, using the same orbs Hali uses in every chart.

The tightest contact is an opposition to Mercury, 0.5° from exact. With Mercury opposite the Moon, its themes tend to show up as a pull in another direction. A square from Uranus adds some friction, which often gets things moving. A trine from Mars tends to make its themes easy to draw on. Saturn, Neptune and Pluto are retrograde at this moment.

Planets to look for

The bright Moon washes out faint stars, but the planets still shine through.

• Mercury is too close to the Sun to see.
• Venus is in the evening sky after sunset, in front of Virgo.
• Mars is in the morning sky before dawn, in front of Gemini.
• Jupiter is in the morning sky before dawn, in front of Cancer.
• Saturn is in the morning sky before dawn, in front of Pisces.

Eclipse season

The Moon is 5.1° from the North Node, one of the two points where its path crosses the Sun's. That is close enough for the partial lunar eclipse described above. The next eclipse is the annular solar eclipse at the new moon of February 2027.

What the lunar nodes are

This lunar cycle

This full moon is the peak of the cycle that began with the new moon in Leo on 12 August 2026. The cycle ends with the new moon on 11 September 2026.

A full moon in Pisces

With the Sun opposite in Virgo, this full moon softens the edges. Rest, imagination and compassion come forward, and so does anything you have been too busy to feel.

Astrology reads full and new moons as moments for reflection, not predictions. Take what helps and leave the rest.

When the Moon is in Pisces

Pisces Moon days are soft and dreamy. They're good for rest, art, music and kindness, and less good for deadlines and small print.

More about the Moon in Pisces

The same moon in other years

• Last yearFull moon August 2025, Aquarius
• Next yearFull moon August 2027, Aquarius
• Next full moon in PiscesFull moon September 2027, Pisces