Full moon May 2026: Blue Moon in Sagittarius

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 São Paulo, at 86°, and lowest in London, at 10°.

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 Blue Moon

The second full moon in a calendar month. This meaning comes from a 1946 magazine article that misread an older almanac rule, and it stuck. The Moon is not blue.

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 9°56′ Sagittarius, the Moon actually stands in front of Scorpius, the scorpion, not the constellation Sagittarius is named after. The Sun, on the far side of the sky at 9°55′ Gemini, is in front of Taurus.

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

How close is the Moon?

At 406,126 km from Earth, this is the farthest of the 13 full moons of 2026. It looks 12% narrower than the closest full moon of the year, on 24 December 2026.

Perigee, the closest point of this orbit, comes on 17 May 2026 at 13:44 UTC, 14 days before the exact full moon, at 358,064 km. Apogee, the farthest point, comes on 1 June 2026 at 406,356 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 a trine from Saturn, 2.3° from exact. A trine from Saturn tends to make its themes easy to draw on. A sextile from Pluto offers an opening that is easy to miss if you are not looking. With Uranus opposite the Moon, its themes tend to show up as a pull in another direction. Pluto is retrograde at this moment.

Planets to look for

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

• Mercury is in the evening sky after sunset, in front of Taurus.
• Venus is in the evening sky after sunset, in front of Gemini.
• Mars is in the morning sky before dawn, in front of Aries.
• Jupiter is in the evening sky after sunset, in front of Gemini.
• Saturn is in the morning sky before dawn, in front of Cetus.

Eclipse season

The Moon is 83.8° from the North Node, one of the two points where its path crosses the Sun's. Eclipses only happen when a new or full moon falls near a node, so this one falls outside eclipse season. The next eclipse is the total solar eclipse at the new moon of August 2026.

What the lunar nodes are

This lunar cycle

This full moon is the peak of the cycle that began with the new moon in Taurus on 16 May 2026. The cycle ends with the new moon on 15 June 2026.

A full moon in Sagittarius

With the Sun opposite in Gemini, this full moon asks what you actually believe once the chatter stops. Plans, travel and the urge for something bigger than your routine tend to get loud.

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

When the Moon is in Sagittarius

Sagittarius Moon days feel restless and hopeful. They're good for big plans, travel, study and honest talks, though tact can go missing.

More about the Moon in Sagittarius

The same moon in other years

• Last yearFull moon May 2025, Scorpio
• Next yearFull moon May 2027, Scorpio
• Next full moon in SagittariusFull moon June 2027, Sagittarius