Full Moon May 2026: Flower Moon
May is when flowers are abundant across much of the northern hemisphere, and the full moon carries their name. Times convert to your time zone (showing UTC).
Peak fullness (showing UTC)
- Name
- Flower Moon
- Distance
- 402,003 km
- Type
- Average
About the Flower Moon
May is when flowers are abundant across much of the northern hemisphere, and the full moon carries their name.
The Corn Planting Moon and Milk Moon are other traditional names. In Buddhist countries the May full moon is Vesak, marking the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha.
Late spring full moons sit lower in the sky than winter ones and rise later in the evening, so twilight colors are often still in the sky at moonrise.
Lore
May's abundance of blossom gave the moon its name, and in Buddhist countries this is the moon of Vesak, celebrating the birth, enlightenment and passing of the Buddha. European lore called it the Milk Moon, when cows first went out to fresh pasture and milk flowed freely.
Trivia
- The Flower Moon is the first full moon of meteorological summer in the northern hemisphere.
- In 2026 it falls on May 1, leaving room for a second full moon, a Blue Moon, on May 31.
- Vesak is fixed to this full moon, so its date moves each year like Easter.
Second full moon of the month (showing UTC)
- Name
- Blue Moon (Flower Moon)
- Distance
- 406,135 km
- Type
- Micromoon
About the Blue Moon
A second full moon in one calendar month. It happens about every two and a half years and has nothing to do with color.
The monthly definition became popular after a 1946 Sky and Telescope article misread the Maine Farmers' Almanac, which used an older seasonal rule: the third full moon in a season that has four. Both definitions are in use today. The phrase "once in a blue moon" predates both and simply means rarely.
Because the calendar month decides it, a Blue Moon in one time zone can be an ordinary full moon in another when the full moon falls within hours of midnight on the first or last day of the month.
Lore
The phrase once in a blue moon is older than any astronomical definition and originally meant something absurd or never. The modern rule, a second full moon in one calendar month, spread from a 1946 magazine article and a 1980s radio programme. Genuinely blue-looking moons have been seen after huge volcanic eruptions and forest fires, when smoke particles scatter red light.
Trivia
- Monthly Blue Moons happen about every 2.7 years.
- The older seasonal rule calls the third full moon of a season with four the Blue Moon.
- After Krakatoa erupted in 1883 the Moon appeared blue or green for nearly two years.
All moon phases in May 2026
| Phase | Date and time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| Full Moon | |
| Last Quarter | |
| New Moon | |
| First Quarter | |
| Full Moon |
See the whole month day by day on the moon phases calendar for your city.