Observing calendar

What is next

The soonest event of each kind, from a year-long window. Everything in the next week, month or year is on the pages above.

• First Quarter Moon

  Computed

  18 September 2026, 20:47 UTC

  Half the Moon's disc is lit. It stands highest in the early evening and sets around midnight, leaving the second half of the night dark.

  How exact: Within about forty minutes of NASA’s published instant — measured, not asserted: the build checks every phase of 2026–2028 against NASA’s own table and the largest disagreement is thirty-eight minutes. The limit is the truncated lunar theory the whole platform uses, not the search.

  Where this date comes from

  Derived on this platform from published position series. The algorithm and its version are recorded, and the stated uncertainty is the real one.

  Method: The instant the Moon's geocentric ecliptic longitude exceeds the Sun's by the phase angle, both referred to the mean equinox of date, located by bisection on the low-precision lunar and solar series. (lunar-phase-elongation-crossing, version 1.0.0)

  Uncertainty: Within about forty minutes of NASA’s published instant — measured, not asserted: the build checks every phase of 2026–2028 against NASA’s own table and the largest disagreement is thirty-eight minutes. The limit is the truncated lunar theory the whole platform uses, not the search.

  Where it applies: The instant is the same everywhere; only the local clock time and whether the Moon is above your horizon differ.

• Annular solar eclipse

  Published prediction

  6 February 2027, 15:59 UTC

  The Moon is too far from Earth to cover the Sun completely, leaving a bright ring. There is no safe moment to look without a filter, at any point of an annular eclipse. Never look at the Sun without a filter made for the purpose. Sunglasses, exposed film and smoked glass are not filters, and neither is a camera, binocular or telescope without one fitted in front of the objective.

  How exact: As published. Instants are quoted to the second in the catalogue; the conversion to UTC uses the catalogue's own ΔT, which is itself a prediction for future dates.

  Saros series

  131

  Gamma

  -0.2952

  Eclipse magnitude

  0.9281

  Duration of central eclipse

  7 min 51 s at greatest eclipse

  Greatest eclipse over

  31°S, 48°W

  ΔT applied

  76 s, from the catalogue, converting its Terrestrial Dynamical Time to UTC

  Where this date comes from

  Taken from an authority's own published prediction. AsteriaStar reproduces it and links the document; it does not recompute it.

  Source: NASA/GSFC Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses — Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC)

  Uncertainty: As published. Instants are quoted to the second in the catalogue; the conversion to UTC uses the catalogue's own ΔT, which is itself a prediction for future dates.

  Where it applies: Greatest eclipse occurs over 31°S, 48°W. Which places see totality, and which see only a partial eclipse, is set by the shadow path — AsteriaStar does not compute it, and NASA publishes the maps.

• Orionids peak

  Annual forecast

  night of 21–22 October 2026

  The second shower fed by Halley's Comet (with the Eta Aquariids), producing fast meteors radiating from near Orion's raised club. The Moon is 80% lit on the peak night, which will wash out all but the brightest meteors.

  How exact: The peak night recurs annually and is reliable to about a day. The hour of maximum and the rate are not: observed rates routinely land at a fraction or a multiple of the nominal figure.

  Activity window

  2 October – 7 November

  Nominal ZHR

  20 — the standardised rate for a radiant overhead in a perfectly dark sky, which no real site achieves. Expect fewer.

  Entry speed

  66 km/s

  Parent body

  Comet 1P/Halley

  Moon on the peak night

  80% lit (computed)

  Where this date comes from

  Recurs every year at approximately the same point in Earth's orbit. The date shown is the expected one; the exact hour and the strength vary from year to year.

  Source: IMO Meteor Shower Calendar working list

  Uncertainty: The peak night recurs annually and is reliable to about a day. The hour of maximum and the rate are not: observed rates routinely land at a fraction or a multiple of the nominal figure.

  Where it applies: Seen from both hemispheres, though the radiant's altitude — and so the rate — still depends on your latitude.

• Neptune at opposition

  Computed

  26 September 2026, about 01:14 UTC

  Neptune lies opposite the Sun, rising as the Sun sets and visible all night. It is near its closest to Earth for this apparition and at its brightest.

  How exact: Within a few hours. The platform’s planetary positions are checked on every build against JPL Horizons and agree to under five arcminutes, which at the rate a planet separates from the Sun is a few hours in the date. Opposition is a broad event in any case: the planet is barely changed in brightness or size for a week either side.

  Distance from Earth

  28.875 au

  Approximate magnitude

  7.8

  Where this date comes from

  Derived on this platform from published position series. The algorithm and its version are recorded, and the stated uncertainty is the real one.

  Method: The instant the planet's geocentric ecliptic longitude differs from the Sun's by exactly 180°, both referred to the mean equinox of date, from the JPL approximate planetary elements. (planet-solar-longitude-opposition, version 1.0.0)

  Uncertainty: Within a few hours. The platform’s planetary positions are checked on every build against JPL Horizons and agree to under five arcminutes, which at the rate a planet separates from the Sun is a few hours in the date. Opposition is a broad event in any case: the planet is barely changed in brightness or size for a week either side.

  Where it applies: Observable from anywhere the planet rises, which for these planets is most of the inhabited world.

• Venus at inferior conjunction

  Computed

  24 October 2026, about 03:32 UTC

  Venus passes between Earth and the Sun and is not observable. It moves from the evening sky into the morning sky around this date.

  How exact: Within a few hours, from planetary positions checked against JPL Horizons on every build to under five arcminutes.

  Where this date comes from

  Derived on this platform from published position series. The algorithm and its version are recorded, and the stated uncertainty is the real one.

  Method: The instant the planet's geocentric ecliptic longitude equals the Sun's, both referred to the mean equinox of date; the geocentric distance separates an inferior conjunction from a superior one. (planet-solar-longitude-conjunction, version 1.0.0)

  Uncertainty: Within a few hours, from planetary positions checked against JPL Horizons on every build to under five arcminutes.

  Where it applies: Not observable from anywhere: the planet is in the same direction as the Sun. Never attempt to look.

• September equinox

  Computed

  23 September 2026, 00:06 UTC

  The Sun crosses the celestial equator going south, beginning the northern autumn and the southern spring.

  How exact: Within about fifteen minutes of the US Naval Observatory’s published instant — measured on every build against their figures for 2026–2028, where the largest disagreement is twelve minutes.

  Where this date comes from

  Derived on this platform from published position series. The algorithm and its version are recorded, and the stated uncertainty is the real one.

  Method: The instant the Sun's apparent geocentric ecliptic longitude, referred to the mean equinox of date, reaches the quadrant boundary — which is the definition of the equinoxes and solstices. (solar-longitude-crossing, version 1.0.0)

  Uncertainty: Within about fifteen minutes of the US Naval Observatory’s published instant — measured on every build against their figures for 2026–2028, where the largest disagreement is twelve minutes.

  Where it applies: A single instant for the whole Earth. The calendar date it falls on depends on your time zone.

• Mercury at greatest eastern elongation

  Computed

  12 October 2026, about 09:52 UTC

  Mercury stands 25° from the Sun, its widest separation of this apparition, and is best placed in the evening sky after sunset.

  How exact: Within a few hours; the elongation is nearly stationary for days around the maximum, so the instant is much softer than the angle. The underlying positions are checked against JPL Horizons on every build and agree to under five arcminutes.

  Elongation

  25.2° east of the Sun

  Approximate magnitude

  -0.0

  Where this date comes from

  Derived on this platform from published position series. The algorithm and its version are recorded, and the stated uncertainty is the real one.

  Method: A turning point of the true Sun–Earth–planet angle, located by bisecting the derivative after a daily scan; the sign of the ecliptic-longitude difference decides whether the apparition is eastern or western. (inferior-planet-elongation-extremum, version 1.0.0)

  Uncertainty: Within a few hours; the elongation is nearly stationary for days around the maximum, so the instant is much softer than the angle. The underlying positions are checked against JPL Horizons on every build and agree to under five arcminutes.

  Where it applies: How high the planet actually gets depends strongly on latitude and the season, because it follows the angle the ecliptic makes with the horizon.

• Gravity-1 | SpaceSail Polar Group #16

  Planned

  15 September 2026, 22:00 UTC

  SpaceSail Polar Group #16. A planned launch, not a fixed one: the time shown is the provider's No Earlier Than date, known to the minute. Last confirmed by the provider 2 hours ago.

  How exact: Planned dates move, routinely by weeks. This one is currently held to the minute, which usually means it is close and confirmed.

  Provider status

  Launch Successful — The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).

  Date known to the

  minute, as the provider states it

  Launch provider

  Orienspace Technology

  Mission type

  Communications

  Launch site

  Yellow Sea (launch location 5), Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

  Launch window

  2026-09-15T21:50:00.000Z to 2026-09-15T22:11:00.000Z

  Last confirmed

  Last confirmed by the provider 2 hours ago.

  Where this date comes from

  A date somebody intends to meet. Planned dates move, often by months. The timestamp of the last confirmation is shown so you can judge how much the date is worth.

  Source: Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs) — a community-maintained aggregator of operator announcements, not an agency schedule (last confirmed 2026-09-16T17:59:14.000Z)

  Uncertainty: Planned dates move, routinely by weeks. This one is currently held to the minute, which usually means it is close and confirmed.

  Where it applies: Lifts off from Yellow Sea (launch location 5), Haiyang Oriental Spaceport. Whether it is visible to you depends entirely on where you are relative to the site and the trajectory.

By kind

• Today

  What is happening in the next twenty-four hours.

• This week

  The next seven days.

• This month

  The whole calendar month.

• Moon

  Phases, perigee and apogee, computed from the platform's own lunar series.

• Eclipses

  Solar and lunar, from NASA's five-millennium catalogue.

• Meteor showers

  Peak nights, with the Moon's interference worked out.

• Conjunctions

  Planets passing close on the sky, and the dates they vanish into the Sun.

• Oppositions

  When each outer planet is closest, brightest and up all night.

• Launches

  Planned orbital launches — dates that move, shown as dates that move.

What this calendar does not do

• It does not know where you are. Every time is UTC. Nothing asks your browser for a position, nothing is stored, and no coordinate ever appears in a URL. Rise and set times for a place you type are on the night-sky page, which computes them in your browser.
• It does not give local eclipse circumstances. NASA's catalogue gives the instant and place of greatest eclipse; what an eclipse looks like from a particular town needs the Besselian elements, which are published separately and are not read here. The path maps are on NASA's own pages, linked from every eclipse.
• It does not predict meteor rates. The peak nights recur annually and are reliable to about a day. The rate is not: a shower with a nominal rate of a hundred has produced fifteen and has produced four hundred. Taurids has no single peak night in the reference data — a broad plateau rather than a night — so it is described on the meteor shower pages and deliberately left out of the dated calendar rather than given an invented date.
• It does not promise a launch will happen. The launch feed is maintained by volunteers aggregating operator announcements — not by any space agency. Dates move by weeks. Each entry says how precisely its date is known and when it was last confirmed.
• It does not know the weather. No cloud, seeing or transparency data is connected to this platform, and none is implied by anything on these pages.

Take it with you

The next year of events is available as an iCalendar file — subscribe to it and unconfirmed events arrive marked tentative, which is how your calendar software will show them. The same data is in the Open Data API, with the basis, method or source, and uncertainty on every entry. Both are free and neither needs a key.

These pages also print. Printing switches them to black on white, drops the navigation, keeps an event from being split across a page break, and prints every link with its address spelled out — and the basis, the date and the stated uncertainty are on the page itself rather than behind a disclosure, so they come out on paper with everything else.

Categories available in both: Moon · Eclipses · Meteor showers · Oppositions · Conjunctions · Seasons · Planets · Launches.