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What each moon phase means
The Moon cycles through 8 named phases roughly every 29.5 days, driven entirely by the changing angle between the Sun, Earth, and Moon — not by Earth's shadow (that only happens during an eclipse).
New Moon
The Moon sits between Earth and the Sun, so its lit side faces away from us entirely. It's invisible in the night sky (or nearly so) — this is also when solar eclipses can occur, if the alignment is exact.
Waxing Crescent
A thin sliver of light appears and grows night by night, on the right side of the Moon as seen from the Northern Hemisphere (left side from the Southern Hemisphere).
First Quarter
Exactly half the Moon's visible face is lit — a straight line down the middle. It's called "first quarter" because the Moon has completed a quarter of its orbit around Earth since the New Moon, not because a quarter of it is lit.
Waxing Gibbous
More than half the Moon is lit and still growing, on its way to Full. "Gibbous" comes from the Latin for "humped," describing the bulging shape.
Full Moon
The entire visible face is lit. Earth sits roughly between the Sun and Moon, which is also when lunar eclipses can occur if the alignment is exact enough for Earth's shadow to fall across the Moon.
Waning Gibbous
More than half lit but shrinking each night, as the Moon heads from Full back toward its last quarter.
Last Quarter
Half lit again, on the opposite side from First Quarter — the Moon has completed three-quarters of its orbit since the last New Moon.
Waning Crescent
A thinning sliver of light, shrinking toward nothing as the Moon approaches its next New Moon and the cycle starts over.
When each phase is visible
A phase's rise and set times follow directly from its angle to the Sun, so they're roughly the same everywhere on Earth (give or take your latitude and the exact date). These are approximate — use the moon calculator for exact times at your location.
| Phase | Rises | Highest (south) | Sets | Best seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🌑 New Moon | ~Sunrise | ~Noon | ~Sunset | Not visible (too close to the Sun) |
| 🌓 First Quarter | ~Noon | ~Sunset | ~Midnight | Afternoon & early evening |
| 🌕 Full Moon | ~Sunset | ~Midnight | ~Sunrise | All night |
| 🌗 Last Quarter | ~Midnight | ~Sunrise | ~Noon | Late night & early morning |
The crescent and gibbous phases fall between these, shifting a little later each night — the Moon rises on average about 50 minutes later each day as it moves along its orbit.
Waxing vs. waning
Waxing means the lit portion is growing night to night, heading toward Full Moon.Waning means it's shrinking, heading back toward New Moon. The four in-between phases (Crescent and Gibbous, waxing and waning) each span several nights; New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon, and Last Quarter mark the specific moments at the center of that stretch.
Which side appears lit also depends on your hemisphere: in the Northern Hemisphere the Moon waxes from right to left, while in the Southern Hemisphere it's the mirror image.
For today's exact phase and illumination percentage at your location, use the moon calculator or the full moon-phase calendar. Curious about specific named full moons like the Strawberry Moon or a Supermoon? See the list of named moons.