Full moon October 2026: Hunter's Moon in Taurus

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 Mumbai, at 89°, and lowest in Sydney, at 36°.

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 Hunter's Moon

The first full moon after the Harvest Moon. With the fields cleared, it gave hunters a bright, early rising Moon to track game by before winter.

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 2°46′ Taurus, the Moon actually stands in front of Aries, the ram, not the constellation Taurus is named after. The Sun, on the far side of the sky at 2°45′ Scorpio, is in front of Virgo.

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

How close is the Moon?

At 368,859 km from Earth, this is the 4th closest of the 13 full moons of 2026. It looks 10% 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 28 October 2026 at 18:04 UTC, 3 days after the exact full moon, at 364,397 km. Apogee, the farthest point, comes on 16 October 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 a square from Pluto, 0.3° from exact. A square from Pluto adds some friction, which often gets things moving. With Venus opposite the Moon, its themes tend to show up as a pull in another direction. Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are 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 Libra.
• Venus is too close to the Sun to see.
• Mars is in the morning sky before dawn, in front of Cancer.
• Jupiter is in the morning sky before dawn, in front of Leo.
• Saturn is up most of the night, in front of Cetus.

Eclipse season

The Moon is 65.1° 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 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 Libra on 10 October 2026. The cycle ends with the new moon on 9 November 2026.

A full moon in Taurus

With the Sun opposite in Scorpio, this full moon asks what you are holding on to and why. Comfort, money and the body come into focus, along with whatever you are ready to stop carrying.

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

When the Moon is in Taurus

Taurus Moon days slow everything down. They favour comfort, nature, a proper meal and finishing what you started over anything new.

More about the Moon in Taurus

The same moon in other years

• Last yearFull moon October 2025, Aries
• Next yearFull moon October 2027, Aries
• Next full moon in TaurusFull moon November 2027, Taurus