The December 2026 night sky: what to see this month
December's night-sky highlights — a dark New-Moon window on the 9th and 2 meteor showers, and how to plan around them.
Here's what's worth looking up for in December 2026 — the Moon's dark window, the meteor showers and eclipses to plan around, and the constellations and Milky Way on show.
These are the month's globally-true highlights. For the exact times the sky goes dark, the Moon rises and sets, and each target is best placed from your own spot, let Stella compute it for your location.
The Moon: your dark-sky window
The Moon is the biggest lever on what's visible. Your darkest skies fall around the New Moon on Dec 9 — plan Milky Way and deep-sky nights for the week around it. The Full Moon on Dec 24 floods the sky, so switch then to the Moon itself, the planets, and double stars.
- Last Quarter — Dec 1
- New Moon — Dec 9
- First Quarter — Dec 17
- Full Moon — Dec 24
- Last Quarter — Dec 30
Meteor showers
2 showers peak in December. Get to the darkest site you can, lie back to take in as much sky as possible, and give your eyes 20 minutes to adapt.
- Geminids — peaks around Dec 14 (up to ~120/hr). The year's best — slow, colourful, and prolific.
- Ursids — peaks around Dec 22 (up to ~10/hr). A modest shower near the winter solstice.
What else is up
Orion returns to the evening sky, heralding winter's brilliant constellations.
The Milky Way's bright core is below the horizon at night this month — it's a season for star clusters, the Moon, planets, and the brighter constellations.
Which planets are well placed, and exactly when each target rises and sets, depends on your date and location — Stella computes that for your sky so you're not trusting a one-size-fits-all chart.
Stop guessing what tonight holds — Stella reads your sky and tells you when to go.
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