Why the full moon falls in the opposite sign
The zodiac is the Sun's yearly path around the sky, divided into twelve signs. At a new moon the Sun and the Moon stand at the same point on it, so a new moon always shares the Sun's sign: the new moon of 18 January 2026 is in Capricorn, where the Sun is. At a full moon the Moon stands directly across the circle, in the opposite sign at the same degree. With the Sun in Capricorn, the full moon of 3 January is in Cancer.
The same geometry explains something you may have seen on a winter night in the northern hemisphere. The full moon of 24 December, at 2° Cancer, stands close to where the Sun stands at midsummer, so it rides high in the sky and stays up through the long night.
How astrology uses new and full moons
Astrologers read the Moon's monthly cycle as a rhythm. The new moon, dark and about to grow, is traditionally the moment for beginnings: naming what you want to start, planting something small. The full moon, when the Moon is at its brightest, stands for culmination and release: seeing clearly what has grown, and letting go of what is done. The sign of each lunation gives it a theme. The new moon of 11 September in Virgo is read in terms of order and useful work, the full moon of 26 September in Aries in terms of courage and the self. The guide to the Full Moon in Taurus follows one lunation in depth: the Hunter's Moon of 26 October, and what it lights up for each rising sign.
None of this predicts an event. It is a calendar for reflection, and it tends to speak most clearly when a lunation falls in the sign of your Moon, your Sun or your rising sign.
The year 2026 in full moons
Because a full moon sits opposite the Sun, it falls in the sign the Sun will reach half a year later. In the northern winter the full moons are in summer signs: Cancer on 3 January, Leo on 1 February. Spring brings Virgo on 3 March, Libra on 2 April, Scorpio on 1 May and Sagittarius on 31 May, the second full moon of that month. Summer's full moons fall in the winter signs, Capricorn on 29 June, Aquarius on 29 July and Pisces on 28 August. Autumn turns to Aries on 26 September, Taurus on 26 October and Gemini on 24 November, and the year closes where it opened, with a full moon in Cancer on 24 December.
Eclipses: when a new or full moon lines up exactly
The Moon's orbit is tilted against the Sun's path, so in most months the new or full moon passes a little above or below the Sun's line. Near the two points where the orbits cross, the alignment is close enough for a shadow to fall, and the lunation becomes an eclipse. In 2026 that happens four times. The new moon of 17 February in Aquarius is an annular solar eclipse, and the full moon of 3 March in Virgo a total lunar eclipse. In August the new moon of the 12th, in Leo, is a total solar eclipse, and the full moon of the 28th, in Pisces, a partial lunar eclipse. The tradition gives these lunations extra weight. Our eclipse calendar for 2026 has their exact times.
The Moon between lunations
A new moon and a full moon are two moments in a month of movement. In between, the Moon stays in each sign for only about two and a quarter days, and it passes through all twelve before the next new moon comes round. That speed is why the Moon's sign at your birth can depend on the hour you were born, and why our Moon sign calculator asks for your birth time if you know it.
Reading the times
Each lunation in the table is given in UTC and in London and New York time. The instant is the same everywhere; the calendar day is not always. The full moon of 29 June is exact at 23:57 UTC, which is already 30 June in London, and the new moon of 9 December falls on the evening of 8 December in New York. If you mark lunations in a diary, use the column for your own clock. The next year's dates are in the full moon calendar for 2027.