As of Monday, Jan. 5, the moon phase is Waning Gibbous. According to The Sky Live, 95% of the moon will be lit up tonight. The next full moon will be on Feb. 1.

Regulus is the brightest star in the zodiacal constellation Leo. The waning gibbous moon shines close to the "kingly" star Regulus on Jan. 5-6, and some well-placed stargazers will even see the lunar disk glide in front of the bright star, hiding its ancient light from view completely.

2026 will bring several lunar events that backyard astronomers will want to stay awake for. The first full moon of the year will take place on Saturday, Jan. 3, and is known as the Wolf Moon, according to the Farmer's Almanac.

As of Wednesday, Dec. 31, the moon phase is Waxing Gibbous. According to NASA's Daily Moon Observation, 88% of the moon will be lit up tonight.

Your first major opportunity to spot shooting stars and bright fireballs in 2026 arrives overnight tonight with the peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower, though only the brightest members may be visible, as the annual event crescendos in the bright light of a full moon.

The return to the moon story that will dominate the first quarter of 2026 will be the Artemis II mission that will take four astronauts around the moon. The flight will test systems on the Orion spacecraft in deep space with human beings on board. The first human mission to deep space since Apollo 17 will lead to the Artemis III moon landing.