New moon calendar 2026

2026 has 12 new moons. The nights around each one are the darkest of the month, when faint galaxies and nebulae show best. Times are in UTC.

20262027 2028

Dark weeks in 2026

Dates when the moon is no more than 20% lit at midnight UTC. On these nights it rises late or sets early, leaving long stretches of full darkness. For the exact moon-free hours at your location, use the dark sky calendar.

New moon	Time (UTC)	Dark week
18 Jan 2026	19:52	15 to 23 January
17 Feb 2026	12:01	13 to 21 February
19 Mar 2026	01:24	15 to 23 March
17 Apr 2026	11:52	14 to 21 April
16 May 2026	20:01	13 to 20 May
15 Jun 2026	02:54	12 to 18 June
14 Jul 2026	09:44	11 to 18 July
12 Aug 2026	17:37	9 to 16 August
11 Sep 2026	03:27	8 to 15 September
10 Oct 2026	15:50	7 to 15 October
9 Nov 2026	07:02	5 to 14 November
9 Dec 2026	00:52	5 to 13 December

All moon phases in 2026

Month	Phases (UTC)
January	Full moon 3 Jan, 10:03Last quarter 10 Jan, 15:49New moon 18 Jan, 19:52First quarter 26 Jan, 04:47
February	Full moon 1 Feb, 22:09Last quarter 9 Feb, 12:43New moon 17 Feb, 12:01First quarter 24 Feb, 12:28
March	Full moon 3 Mar, 11:38Last quarter 11 Mar, 09:39New moon 19 Mar, 01:24First quarter 25 Mar, 19:18
April	Full moon 2 Apr, 02:12Last quarter 10 Apr, 04:52New moon 17 Apr, 11:52First quarter 24 Apr, 02:32
May	Full moon 1 May, 17:23Last quarter 9 May, 21:11New moon 16 May, 20:01First quarter 23 May, 11:11Full moon 31 May, 08:45
June	Last quarter 8 Jun, 10:00New moon 15 Jun, 02:54First quarter 21 Jun, 21:55Full moon 29 Jun, 23:57
July	Last quarter 7 Jul, 19:29New moon 14 Jul, 09:44First quarter 21 Jul, 11:06Full moon 29 Jul, 14:36
August	Last quarter 6 Aug, 02:21New moon 12 Aug, 17:37First quarter 20 Aug, 02:46Full moon 28 Aug, 04:19
September	Last quarter 4 Sep, 07:51New moon 11 Sep, 03:27First quarter 18 Sep, 20:44Full moon 26 Sep, 16:49
October	Last quarter 3 Oct, 13:25New moon 10 Oct, 15:50First quarter 18 Oct, 16:13Full moon 26 Oct, 04:12
November	Last quarter 1 Nov, 20:28New moon 9 Nov, 07:02First quarter 17 Nov, 11:48Full moon 24 Nov, 14:54
December	Last quarter 1 Dec, 06:09New moon 9 Dec, 00:52First quarter 17 Dec, 05:43Full moon 24 Dec, 01:28Last quarter 30 Dec, 19:00

Filters for moonlit nights

On about 72% of the nights in 2026 the moon is more than 20% lit. Narrowband and dual-band filters pass the light of emission nebulae and block most moonlight, so those nights are not lost.

Optolong L-Ultimate 3 nm 3 nm dual-band, Ha, OIII, for color cameras View at High Point Scientific
Antlia ALP-T 5 nm 5 nm dual-band, Ha, OIII, for color cameras View at High Point Scientific
Optolong L-eXtreme 7 nm 7 nm dual-band, Ha, OIII, for color cameras View at High Point Scientific
Antlia 3 nm Pro H-alpha 3 nm H-alpha, for mono cameras View at High Point Scientific

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Why the new moon matters

A full moon brightens the sky by several magnitudes and washes out galaxies, reflection nebulae and faint dust. Around new moon the sky is as dark as your site allows. Emission nebulae can still be imaged near full moon with narrowband or dual-band filters, which block most of the moonlight.

How these dates are calculated

Phase times come from astronomy-engine. Every phase from 2026 to 2028 was checked against the US Naval Observatory: the largest difference is 1.3 minutes, and the average is under a minute. Dark week dates use the moon's illuminated fraction at 00:00 UTC. A new moon late in the day in UTC can fall on the next calendar date in time zones east of Greenwich, and on the previous date well to the west.