Full Moon October 2026: Date, Time and the Hunter's Moon in Taurus

Detail	October 2026 full moon
Date	Monday, October 26, 2026 (night of Sunday, October 25)
Time, US Eastern	12:12 a.m. EDT
Time, UTC	04:12 UTC, October 26
Moon sign	Taurus, about 3 degrees
Sun opposite	Scorpio
Traditional name	Hunter's Moon
Eclipse	none
Previous new moon	October 10, 11:50 a.m. EDT, in Libra
Next full moon	November 24 in Gemini
All 2026 full moons	Full moon 2026 calendar

Why the date depends on where you live

A full moon is a single instant, the moment the Moon sits exactly opposite the Sun. Where you are decides which date your clock shows for that instant. In New York the October one falls a few minutes after midnight, so the calendar says October 26. In Chicago it is 11:12 p.m. CDT on Sunday, and on the Pacific coast it is the middle of Sunday evening. Europe sees it in the early hours of Monday morning.

For watching, none of this matters much. The Moon looks round for about a day on either side of the exact time, so Sunday night and Monday night both show a full disk. If you want the minute for your own town, the lunar calendar recalculates it. Daylight saving time is still on in the US until November 1, which is why this one is given in EDT and November's in EST.

The Hunter's Moon, and how it got the name

In the North American almanac tradition the Hunter's Moon is the full moon that follows the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the September equinox, which in 2026 fell on September 22, so the September 26 full moon in Aries took that name and October 26 inherits the next one. The story behind it is practical: fields had been cut, and a bright moon rising soon after sunset gave hunters extra light in the evenings before winter.

The name is folklore. It changes nothing about the Moon, and other lists use different names for the same month. It is still a handy label for this full moon, and US almanacs use it.

Astronomy and astrology, kept apart

On the astronomy side, the time above is our own calculation, from the same engine as the site's lunar calendar and accurate to the minute. The Moon sits at roughly 3 degrees of Taurus in the tropical zodiac. Nothing about this full moon is unusual in the sky. It rises around sunset on Sunday and stays up all night.

The interpretation is a separate layer. Astrologers read Taurus as the sign of the body, of money and possessions, and of the things that make you feel steady. Scorpio, where the Sun sits, is read as depth, shared resources and the parts of life that only change when something is let go. A Taurus full moon is traditionally a moment to look at what you are holding on to and ask whether it still keeps you steady or only keeps you stuck.

Two planets are retrograde around this full moon. Venus has been retrograde since October 3, and Mercury turned retrograde in Scorpio on October 24, two days before this full moon. Tradition reads that combination as a good time to review plans, money talks and close relationships before making new commitments. Retrograde planets 2026 has every station of the year with dates.

How this full moon touches your chart

A full moon is the same for everyone until it lands on something in your own chart. Look at where Taurus and Scorpio fall in your birth chart. If you have the Sun, Moon or rising sign near the start of Taurus, Scorpio, Leo or Aquarius, this full moon falls on, opposite or square to your placements, and astrologers would read the days around October 26 as a more charged week for you.

House placement narrows it further. The house that holds early Taurus shows the area of life that comes into view, whether that is income, home, work or a partnership, and the opposite house shows where the pressure comes from. If neither house holds a planet, the full moon may pass quietly, which is fine too. Your own Moon sign adds another angle, and what your moon sign means explains how to read it.

The cycle around it

This full moon closes the cycle that began at the new moon on October 10 in Libra, 11:50 a.m. EDT. Whatever you set in motion around that date, especially in relationships or agreements, is the natural thing to check in on now. The waning half of the month that follows is read as a time for sorting and finishing.

The previous full moon was the September 2026 full moon in Aries on September 26, the Harvest Moon. The next is the November 2026 full moon in Gemini on November 24. For the whole year in one table, including the two eclipses, see the full moon 2026 calendar. The moon phases guide covers what each phase between them is read to mean.