According to Forbes, the first full moon of 2026, known as the Wolf Moon, rose as a supermoon on Saturday, January 3, appearing alongside Jupiter. It was about 225,130 miles from Earth, making it roughly 5.7% closer than average and the last in a series of four supermoons. The year will feature 13 full moons, three supermoons, two lunar eclipses, and two solar eclipses, including a total “blood moon” eclipse on March 2-3. Crucially, NASA is targeting Thursday, February 5, 2026, to launch the Artemis II mission, its first crewed moon mission since 1972. That mission will send astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen on a lunar flyby, traveling 4,600 miles beyond the moon.
Moon Illusion And Supermoon Reality
So here’s the thing about that supermoon looking huge on the horizon. A lot of that is actually in our heads. NASA calls it the moon illusion, and it’s that weird trick your brain plays when you see the moon next to buildings or trees. The actual physical “super” part comes from it being at perigee, its closest point to Earth. According to AstroPixels, this one was over 225,000 miles away, which is close for the moon. It’s genuinely bigger and brighter, but our brains are the ones that really crank up the drama at moonrise. Kind of makes you wonder what’s real, right?
The Big Year For The Moon
This Wolf Moon isn’t just a pretty picture. It’s basically the opening act for a absolutely stacked year of lunar events. We’ve got two solar eclipses, including a total one in August, and two lunar eclipses. The highlight there is that total “blood moon” in early March. And then on December 23, we’ll get the closest full moon since 2019. It’s a great reminder that the sky is never static. For anyone with even a passing interest in astronomy, 2026 is shaping up to be a year where you’ll want to mark your calendar and maybe buy a decent pair of binoculars.
Artemis II: The Real Headliner
But let’s be honest. All these celestial events, as cool as they are, are just the warm-up. The main event in 2026 is undoubtedly Artemis II. A crewed mission to the moon for the first time in over 50 years? That’s monumental. Sending four astronauts farther from Earth than any human has ever gone is a huge, risky step. It’s a test flight, a confidence builder for the landing mission planned for 2027. The pressure on NASA and its partners, like the Canadian Space Agency providing crew member Jeremy Hansen, is immense. Every component, from the Space Launch System rocket to the Orion spacecraft’s life support, has to work perfectly. I think we often forget how much hardcore engineering and reliable industrial computing goes into making something this audacious look routine.
Why This All Matters Now
Look, a supermoon is beautiful. A “blood moon” eclipse is eerie and awesome. But they’re passive observations. Artemis II is active human exploration. It feels like we’re finally transitioning from just looking at the moon to seriously planning how we operate there. This mission is the critical pathfinder for everything that comes next—the lunar base, the Mars ambitions, all of it. So while you’re admiring those photos of the Wolf Moon this weekend, remember that in just over a month, if schedules hold, we’ll be watching a different kind of launch. One that sends people back toward that glowing disk. And that’s a whole different kind of magic.
