{
  "title": "Moon Phases, Moonrise and Moonset Explained",
  "description": "The eight moon phases explained, why moonrise shifts 50 minutes a day, how moon phase affects stargazing and meteors, and full moons through 2027.",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/moon-phases",
  "breadcrumbs": [
    {
      "name": "Home",
      "url": "/"
    },
    {
      "name": "Moon Phases, Moonrise and Moonset Explained",
      "url": "/moon-phases"
    }
  ],
  "updated": "Tue Sep 22 2026 20:00:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)",
  "data": {
    "slug": "moon-phases",
    "title": "Moon Phases, Moonrise and Moonset Explained",
    "description": "The eight moon phases explained, why moonrise shifts 50 minutes a day, how moon phase affects stargazing and meteors, and full moons through 2027.",
    "body_md": "The Moon moves through eight phases roughly every 29.5 days: new, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent, as it circles Earth and sunlight lights up a changing slice of its near side, according to [NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/moon/moon-phases/). Moonrise and moonset also creep about 50 minutes later each day because the Moon is sliding eastward along its own orbit, not just riding along with Earth's spin, [per EarthSky](https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/understandingmoonphases/). And because moonlight is bright enough to drown out faint stars and meteors, the phase you pick to go stargazing matters as much as the weather, [as EarthSky explains](https://earthsky.org/tonight/what-moon-phase-is-best-for-stargazing/). Below: every phase in plain language, why the clock keeps shifting, and a table of every full moon and supermoon from October 2026 through December 2027, plus a link to our live [/moon](/moon) tool for moonrise and moonset at your own location tonight.\n\n## The Eight Moon Phases, in Order\n\nThe Moon does not produce its own light. What changes from night to night is how much of its sunlit half faces Earth, and [NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/moon/moon-phases/) lists the cycle in this order:\n\n1. **New Moon.** The Moon sits between Earth and the Sun, so its near side is unlit and it rises and sets with the Sun, invisible in the daytime sky.\n2. **Waxing Crescent.** A thin sliver of light appears on the right side (for Northern Hemisphere observers) and grows night by night.\n3. **First Quarter.** Exactly half the visible disk is lit. The Moon is high in the sky at sunset and sets around midnight.\n4. **Waxing Gibbous.** More than half the disk is lit, and the sliver of shadow keeps shrinking.\n5. **Full Moon.** The Moon sits opposite the Sun in the sky, its whole near side lit, rising around sunset and setting around sunrise.\n6. **Waning Gibbous.** The lit portion starts shrinking from the right edge.\n7. **Third Quarter** (also called last quarter). Half the disk is lit again, but the opposite half from first quarter, and the Moon now rises around midnight.\n8. **Waning Crescent.** A thin sliver remains, visible in the pre-dawn sky just before the cycle resets to new moon.\n\nThat full cycle, new moon to new moon, is called a synodic month and averages 29.5 days. The Moon's actual orbit around Earth (one full 360-degree lap, relative to the stars) only takes about 27.3 days; the extra two days happen because Earth itself is moving around the Sun at the same time, so the Moon has to travel a little farther each month to catch back up into the same Sun-Earth-Moon alignment, [NASA notes](https://science.nasa.gov/moon/moon-phases/).\n\n## Why Moonrise (and Moonset) Shift About 50 Minutes a Day\n\nIf you watched the Moon rise at 8:00 p.m. last night, expect it closer to 8:50 p.m. tonight, not because Earth's rotation changed, but because the Moon itself moved. Each day the Moon travels about 12 to 13 degrees further east along its orbit, and Earth's rotation needs roughly 50 extra minutes to carry any given spot on the ground back around to where the Moon now sits, [EarthSky explains](https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/understandingmoonphases/). That 50-minute figure is an average: the actual daily shift can be as short as 20 to 30 minutes or as long as over an hour, depending on the season, your latitude, and the angle at which the Moon's path crosses the horizon.\n\nThe [US Naval Observatory](https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/RST_defs) defines moonrise and moonset the same way it defines sunrise and sunset: the moment the Moon's upper edge crosses the horizon, adjusted for atmospheric refraction. Because the Moon is so much closer to Earth than the Sun, and its orbit is not a perfect circle, calculating exact rise and set times is more involved than for sunrise and sunset, which is why the Observatory publishes a [year-long rise and set table](https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/RS_OneYear) rather than a simple formula. For a same-night answer without the math, our [/moon](/moon) tool calculates moonrise, moonset, and current phase for cities across the US and Canada, or for your own location, right in your browser.\n\nOne side effect of this eastward drift: around the full moon nearest the September equinox (the Harvest Moon), the day-to-day shift shrinks to as little as 20 to 30 minutes at mid-northern latitudes, so the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time several nights running, an effect [farmers once relied on](https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/full-moons/en/) to keep working fields after dark.\n\n## How Moon Phase Changes What You Can See at Night\n\nMoonlight is sunlight, reflected, and a bright Moon in the sky works the same way as light pollution: it raises the sky's background brightness and buries anything faint. [EarthSky](https://earthsky.org/tonight/what-moon-phase-is-best-for-stargazing/) puts the difference in concrete terms: the Moon at first or third quarter is only about a sixth as bright as a full Moon, three nights before full it is already about half as bright as full, and a full Moon itself is brightest of all thanks to an effect called the opposition surge, where sunlight bounces straight back at Earth with no shadowing.\n\nThat makes the **new moon week** the best stretch for faint targets: the Milky Way, dim deep-sky objects, and faint meteors are all easiest to see with no moonlight in the sky at all. Around full moon, plan around the Moon instead of against it: watch after moonset or before moonrise, or point away from the Moon's part of the sky. This is exactly the calculation that matters for meteor showers, where the \"shooting stars\" themselves are often faint:\n\n- The [Orionids](https://amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/) peak October 21, 2026 with the Moon largely out of the way, favoring the pre-dawn hours.\n- The [Leonids](https://amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/) peak November 17, 2026; watching after moonset gives the darkest skies.\n- The [Geminids](https://amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/), the year's most reliable shower, peak December 13, 2026 with the Moon setting in early evening, the single best meteor night of the stretch.\n- The [Ursids](https://amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/) peak December 22, 2026 under a bright Moon, so do not expect a big show.\n- The [Quadrantids](https://amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/) peak overnight January 3 to 4, 2027, with a narrow, cold-weather window.\n\nOur [/meteor-showers](/meteor-showers) calendar tracks moon illumination against every peak night, and the [/events](/events) hub lists these alongside every other date on this page. Bright, moonless weeks are also the nights worth building a trip to a certified dark-sky site around; see [/dark-sky-parks](/dark-sky-parks) for the full US and Canada list.\n\n## Full Moon Names, Blue Moons, and Supermoons\n\nLong before electric light, farmers and other observers tracked the seasons by naming each month's full moon, a tradition the [Old Farmer's Almanac](https://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-dates-and-times) still keeps and that [NASA](https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/full-moons/en/) traces back to a mix of Native American, colonial American, and European sources: October's Hunter's Moon (once the light hunters used to track game after harvest), December's Cold Moon, and so on through the year.\n\nA **supermoon** is not a separate phase; it is a full Moon that happens to coincide with perigee, the point in the Moon's slightly elliptical orbit where it is closest to Earth. At that distance the Moon can look [up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter](https://science.nasa.gov/moon/supermoons/) than the faintest (farthest) full Moon of the year, and supermoons cluster together, occurring three to four times in a row each year rather than being spread evenly across the calendar.\n\nA **blue moon** is unrelated to color: it is either the second full Moon in a single calendar month, or the third of four full Moons in one season, an event that comes around roughly every two and a half years, [per NASA](https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/full-moons/en/). None of the full moons below qualify as a blue moon; the next one is not on this table.\n\n### Upcoming Full Moons and Supermoons, October 2026 to December 2027\n\n| Date | Full Moon Name | Supermoon? |\n|---|---|---|\n| October 26, 2026 | Hunter's Moon | No |\n| November 24, 2026 | Beaver Moon | No |\n| December 23, 2026 | Cold Moon | Yes |\n| January 22, 2027 | Wolf Moon | Yes |\n| February 20, 2027 | Snow Moon | No |\n| March 22, 2027 | Worm Moon | No |\n| April 20, 2027 | Pink Moon | No |\n| May 20, 2027 | Flower Moon | No |\n| June 19, 2027 | Strawberry Moon | No |\n| July 18, 2027 | Buck Moon | No |\n| August 17, 2027 | Sturgeon Moon | No |\n| September 15, 2027 | Harvest Moon | No |\n| October 15, 2027 | Hunter's Moon | No |\n| November 14, 2027 | Beaver Moon | No |\n| December 13, 2027 | Cold Moon | No |\n\nDates and names from the [CycleCalcs full moon calendar](https://www.cyclecalcs.com/full-moon-calendar.html) and the [Farmers' Almanac](https://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-dates-and-times). Our [/events](/events) hub keeps this list current as new dates are added, alongside meteor showers and eclipses.\n\n## Find Tonight's Moonrise, Moonset, and Phase\n\nRather than sending you to a third-party lookup, darkskiesdirectory.com runs its own live tool. Open [/moon](/moon), pick a US or Canadian city from the list, or let it use your device's location, and it calculates the current phase, percent illuminated, and today's moonrise and moonset times directly in your browser using the open-source [SunCalc](https://github.com/mourner/suncalc) library, no lookup table or page reload needed. It is the fastest way to answer \"what phase is the Moon tonight\" or \"when does the Moon set where I am,\" and it pairs naturally with the [/meteor-showers](/meteor-showers) calendar and [/dark-sky-parks](/dark-sky-parks) directory when you are picking the darkest night for a trip.\n\n## Quick Answers\n\n**What is the Moon's age today?**\n\"Moon age\" just means days elapsed since the most recent new moon, on a scale of 0 to about 29.5. Check [/moon](/moon) for today's phase and illumination percentage, which tracks directly with Moon age.\n\n**Why does the Moon have phases at all?**\nBecause the Moon orbits Earth while both orbit the Sun, the angle between the Sun, Earth, and Moon keeps changing, so the portion of the Moon's sunlit half that is visible from Earth keeps changing too, cycling fully about every 29.5 days, [per NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/moon/moon-phases/).\n\n**What's the difference between a supermoon and a regular full moon?**\nA supermoon is a full Moon that lines up with perigee, its closest approach to Earth in that month's orbit, making it up to [14% bigger and 30% brighter](https://science.nasa.gov/moon/supermoons/) than the year's most distant, faintest full Moon. Every other full Moon is simply an ordinary full Moon.\n\n**Does moon phase really affect stargazing and meteor showers?**\nYes. A full Moon is bright enough to wash out faint stars, the Milky Way, and dim meteors, while a new Moon leaves the sky at its darkest, [as EarthSky details](https://earthsky.org/tonight/what-moon-phase-is-best-for-stargazing/). For meteor showers specifically, checking the Moon's phase against the peak night matters as much as checking the weather forecast; see the [/meteor-showers](/meteor-showers) calendar.\n\n**Why does the Moon sometimes look upside down?**\nEveryone on Earth sees the same phase at the same moment, but observers in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres look in opposite directions to find the Moon in their sky, so its orientation, which pole appears \"up,\" flips between hemispheres, [EarthSky explains](https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/do-we-all-see-the-same-moon-phase/). It is a change in perspective, not a change in phase.\n\n**Can a full moon cause a lunar eclipse?**\nEvery lunar eclipse happens at full moon, since Earth can only fall between the Sun and Moon at that point in the cycle, though most full moons pass just above or below Earth's shadow and no eclipse occurs. February's 2027 full Snow Moon is one of the exceptions: it lines up with a [penumbral lunar eclipse on February 20, 2027](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2027_lunar_eclipse), visible across North and South America though subtle to the naked eye, [per the eclipse map](https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2027-february-20). See [/eclipses](/eclipses) for the full North American eclipse calendar.",
    "hero_image": "/images/moon-phases.webp",
    "category": "moon",
    "published_at": "Tue Sep 22 2026 20:00:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)",
    "updated_at": "Tue Sep 22 2026 20:00:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)",
    "sources_json": "[{\"title\":\"Moon Phases - NASA Science\",\"url\":\"https://science.nasa.gov/moon/moon-phases/\"},{\"title\":\"Supermoons - NASA Science\",\"url\":\"https://science.nasa.gov/moon/supermoons/\"},{\"title\":\"Supermoon, Blood Moon, Blue Moon and Harvest Moon - NASA Space Place\",\"url\":\"https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/full-moons/en/\"},{\"title\":\"Rise, Set, and Twilight Definitions - US Naval Observatory\",\"url\":\"https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/RST_defs\"},{\"title\":\"Table of Sunrise/Sunset, Moonrise/Moonset for an Entire Year - US Naval Observatory\",\"url\":\"https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/RS_OneYear\"},{\"title\":\"4 Keys to Understanding Moon Phases - EarthSky\",\"url\":\"https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/understandingmoonphases/\"},{\"title\":\"Which Moon Phase Is Best for Stargazing? - EarthSky\",\"url\":\"https://earthsky.org/tonight/what-moon-phase-is-best-for-stargazing/\"},{\"title\":\"Do We All See the Same Moon Phase? - EarthSky\",\"url\":\"https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/do-we-all-see-the-same-moon-phase/\"},{\"title\":\"Full Moon Calendar - CycleCalcs\",\"url\":\"https://www.cyclecalcs.com/full-moon-calendar.html\"},{\"title\":\"Full Moon Dates and Times - Farmers' Almanac\",\"url\":\"https://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-dates-and-times\"},{\"title\":\"Meteor Shower Calendar - American Meteor Society\",\"url\":\"https://amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/\"},{\"title\":\"February 2027 Lunar Eclipse - Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2027_lunar_eclipse\"},{\"title\":\"Eclipse Map, February 20, 2027 - timeanddate\",\"url\":\"https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2027-february-20\"}]",
    "sources": [
      {
        "title": "Moon Phases - NASA Science",
        "url": "https://science.nasa.gov/moon/moon-phases/"
      },
      {
        "title": "Supermoons - NASA Science",
        "url": "https://science.nasa.gov/moon/supermoons/"
      },
      {
        "title": "Supermoon, Blood Moon, Blue Moon and Harvest Moon - NASA Space Place",
        "url": "https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/full-moons/en/"
      },
      {
        "title": "Rise, Set, and Twilight Definitions - US Naval Observatory",
        "url": "https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/RST_defs"
      },
      {
        "title": "Table of Sunrise/Sunset, Moonrise/Moonset for an Entire Year - US Naval Observatory",
        "url": "https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/RS_OneYear"
      },
      {
        "title": "4 Keys to Understanding Moon Phases - EarthSky",
        "url": "https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/understandingmoonphases/"
      },
      {
        "title": "Which Moon Phase Is Best for Stargazing? - EarthSky",
        "url": "https://earthsky.org/tonight/what-moon-phase-is-best-for-stargazing/"
      },
      {
        "title": "Do We All See the Same Moon Phase? - EarthSky",
        "url": "https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/do-we-all-see-the-same-moon-phase/"
      },
      {
        "title": "Full Moon Calendar - CycleCalcs",
        "url": "https://www.cyclecalcs.com/full-moon-calendar.html"
      },
      {
        "title": "Full Moon Dates and Times - Farmers' Almanac",
        "url": "https://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-dates-and-times"
      },
      {
        "title": "Meteor Shower Calendar - American Meteor Society",
        "url": "https://amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/"
      },
      {
        "title": "February 2027 Lunar Eclipse - Wikipedia",
        "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2027_lunar_eclipse"
      },
      {
        "title": "Eclipse Map, February 20, 2027 - timeanddate",
        "url": "https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2027-february-20"
      }
    ]
  },
  "jsonld": {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
      {
        "@type": "Organization",
        "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#organization",
        "name": "Dark Skies Directory",
        "url": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com"
      },
      {
        "@type": "WebSite",
        "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#website",
        "url": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com",
        "name": "Dark Skies Directory",
        "publisher": {
          "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#organization"
        }
      },
      {
        "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
        "itemListElement": [
          {
            "@type": "ListItem",
            "position": 1,
            "name": "Home",
            "item": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/"
          },
          {
            "@type": "ListItem",
            "position": 2,
            "name": "Moon Phases, Moonrise and Moonset Explained",
            "item": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/moon-phases"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "@type": "Article",
        "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/articles/moon-phases#article",
        "headline": "Moon Phases, Moonrise and Moonset Explained",
        "description": "The eight moon phases explained, why moonrise shifts 50 minutes a day, how moon phase affects stargazing and meteors, and full moons through 2027.",
        "image": "/images/moon-phases.webp",
        "datePublished": "Tue Sep 22 2026 20:00:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)",
        "dateModified": "Tue Sep 22 2026 20:00:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)",
        "author": {
          "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#organization"
        },
        "publisher": {
          "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#organization"
        },
        "mainEntityOfPage": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/articles/moon-phases",
        "citation": [
          "https://science.nasa.gov/moon/moon-phases/",
          "https://science.nasa.gov/moon/supermoons/",
          "https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/full-moons/en/",
          "https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/RST_defs",
          "https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/RS_OneYear",
          "https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/understandingmoonphases/",
          "https://earthsky.org/tonight/what-moon-phase-is-best-for-stargazing/",
          "https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/do-we-all-see-the-same-moon-phase/",
          "https://www.cyclecalcs.com/full-moon-calendar.html",
          "https://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-dates-and-times",
          "https://amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/",
          "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2027_lunar_eclipse",
          "https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2027-february-20"
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}