🌑 New Moon
Not visible. A time for new beginnings and intentions.
Moon Phase Today – Lunar Phase, Illumination & Next Full Moon
See exactly what the Moon looks like right now: its phase, how much of it is lit and how old the lunar cycle is. Find the next full and new moon, or pick any date to check its phase.
- Live phase
- Any date
- Full moon names
How to Use the Moon Phase Calculator
- See today’s Moon instantly. The page shows the current phase as soon as it loads.
- Pick another date to see the Moon on a birthday, wedding day or any date from 1900 to 2100.
- Switch hemisphere if you live south of the equator, so the illustration matches what you see in the sky.
How the Moon Phase Is Calculated
The calculator starts from a known new moon — 6 January 2000 at 18:14 UTC — and counts the days since then. Dividing by the average length of a lunar cycle, the synodic month of 29.530588 days, leaves the Moon’s age: how many days have passed since the most recent new moon.
The age gives the phase name, and the fraction of the cycle gives the illumination: lit fraction = (1 − cos(2π × age ÷ 29.53)) ÷ 2. That is 0% at new moon, 50% at the quarters and 100% at full moon. The illustration draws the lit part using the same angle.
Because real lunar cycles speed up and slow down, the exact times of the next full and new moons are worked out separately with the main periodic terms from Jean Meeus’s Astronomical Algorithms.
The Eight Phases of the Moon
🌒 Waxing Crescent
A thin sliver after sunset. Hope and planning.
🌓 First Quarter
Half lit, high at dusk. Decisions and action.
🌔 Waxing Gibbous
Almost full. Refining and building momentum.
🌕 Full Moon
Fully lit all night. Culmination and celebration.
🌖 Waning Gibbous
Shrinking light. Gratitude and sharing.
🌗 Last Quarter
Half lit, seen in the morning. Release and letting go.
🌘 Waning Crescent
A thin crescent before dawn. Rest and reflection.
Full moon names by month
January’s Wolf Moon, February’s Snow Moon, March’s Worm Moon, April’s Pink Moon, May’s Flower Moon, June’s Strawberry Moon, July’s Buck Moon, August’s Sturgeon Moon, September’s Harvest Moon, October’s Hunter’s Moon, November’s Beaver Moon and December’s Cold Moon. When two full moons fall in one month, the second is popularly called a Blue Moon.
Your emotions and the Moon are closely linked in astrology. Find your natal Moon sign with the Big Three calculator or your Vedic rashi with the Moon sign calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
This page calculates it live when it opens and shows the phase name, how much of the Moon is lit and its age in days. Use the date picker to check any other date.
The average time from one new moon to the next — the synodic month — is about 29.53 days. Individual cycles vary by several hours because the Moon’s orbit is elliptical.
Observers south of the equator see the Moon “upside down” compared with the north, so a waxing crescent is lit on the left instead of the right. Tick “Southern hemisphere view” to see it that way.
Traditional names come from Native American and Old English customs and describe the season: the Wolf Moon in January, the Strawberry Moon in June, the Harvest Moon near the September equinox and the Cold Moon in December.
They are calculated with the main terms of the lunar theory published by astronomer Jean Meeus and are typically accurate to within a few minutes. Times are shown in your device’s time zone.
In astrology, the new moon is linked with fresh starts and the full moon with culmination and release. In Vedic astrology the lunar day (tithi) is used to choose auspicious dates.