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The Old Farmer's Almanac names from Algonquin and other Native American calendars, in popular use throughout the English-speaking world. Times are UTC; your local date may be one day before or after for moons near midnight.

This month's lunar strip

Twenty-eight days centered on today, with the percentage of the moon's disc illuminated each day at 00:00 UTC.

Understanding the moon's phases

The eight lunar phases

Astronomers divide the lunar cycle into eight named phases. Four are instantaneous events — the new moon (sun and moon in the same ecliptic longitude), first quarter (90° east of the sun), full moon (180° opposed), and last quarter (90° west). The other four — waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, waning gibbous, and waning crescent — are the broad transitions between them. "Waxing" means growing (lit side increasing); "waning" means shrinking. From the northern hemisphere, the lit side is on the right during waxing and on the left during waning; the southern hemisphere sees the mirror image.

Synodic vs sidereal month

The synodic month — the cycle of phases — averages 29.53 days. The sidereal month, the moon's actual orbital period relative to distant stars, is shorter at 27.32 days. The discrepancy exists because Earth itself moves about 1° per day along its solar orbit; after the moon completes one sidereal lap, it has to travel another ~27° to catch up to the same sun-Earth-moon alignment that defines a phase. Both cycles are slightly variable from month to month due to the moon's elliptical orbit, the gravitational tug of the sun, and other perturbations.

Why the moon looks (almost) identical from every city

Earth's diameter is about 12,742 km; the moon averages 384,400 km away. Two observers on opposite sides of Earth therefore see the moon from slightly different angles — the lunar parallax — but the shift is under 2°. The phase (the angle between sun, moon, and observer) is essentially the same to within a fraction of a percent of illumination. What differs by city is moonrise/moonset time, azimuth, and altitude — but not the phase itself. A full moon at 12:00 UTC is full everywhere on Earth.

Cultural names and the blue moon

The traditional English names — Wolf, Snow, Worm, Pink, Flower, Strawberry, Buck, Sturgeon, Corn (or Harvest), Hunter's, Beaver, Cold — derive from Algonquin and other Native American calendars, popularised by the Old Farmer's Almanac. Many cultures have their own systems: the Hindu lunar calendar names months for the nakshatra they begin in, the Chinese lunisolar calendar names months numerically with seasonal couplets, and Islamic lunar months are governed by the sighting of the new crescent. When two full moons fall in the same calendar month — a consequence of 12 synodic months totalling 354 days, eleven days shy of a solar year — the second is called a blue moon.

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Frequently asked questions

What phase is the moon in tonight?

The live phase shown above is computed from your device's clock against the moon's 29.53-day synodic cycle. The eight named phases — new, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous, last quarter, waning crescent — describe how much of the moon's lit hemisphere faces Earth. The percentage shows illumination of the visible disc; the age shows how many days have passed since the last new moon.

How often is a blue moon?

About every 2.5 to 3 years for the calendar definition (a second full moon in the same calendar month), and slightly more often for the older seasonal definition (the third full moon in a season with four). Twelve lunar cycles take 354 days, eleven days short of a solar year, so the surplus accumulates until an extra full moon is squeezed into a single month. Despite the name, a blue moon is not actually blue — the term means rare, as in 'once in a blue moon.'

What is a supermoon?

A supermoon is a full moon that occurs near perigee — the moon's closest approach to Earth in its slightly elliptical orbit. The most common rule defines it as a full moon within ~10% of the closest perigee distance, which produces 3 to 4 supermoons per year. A supermoon appears about 7% larger and 15% brighter than an average full moon — a real but subtle difference that is hard to perceive without side-by-side comparison.

Does the moon phase affect tides?

Yes. Tides are driven by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. When the moon is full or new, the sun and moon align (or oppose) and their pulls add together to produce 'spring tides' — the highest highs and lowest lows of the lunar month. At first and last quarter, the sun and moon pull at right angles, producing the more moderate 'neap tides.' Spring tides at perigee (a 'king tide') can be especially extreme.

Why does the moon look the same from every continent?

The moon is, on average, 384,400 km from Earth — far enough that the angle subtended by Earth's diameter (~12,742 km) is small, around 1.9°. Moving from one side of Earth to the other shifts the apparent position of the moon against the stars by less than 1° (the lunar parallax) but does not noticeably change the lit-side angle: the same phase is visible everywhere the moon is above the horizon at the same UTC moment.

Why are there 12 or 13 full moons in a year?

A solar year is 365.24 days; a lunar synodic month is 29.53 days. Twelve lunar months sum to 354.36 days, leaving roughly 11 spare days a year. Those days accumulate, and once every 2-3 years there are 13 full moons in a calendar year — the second full moon in a single month is then called a blue moon. 2026 is one such year (13 full moons total).

What's the difference between a synodic and sidereal month?

The synodic month (29.53 days) is the time from one new moon to the next — the cycle of phases. The sidereal month (27.32 days) is the moon's actual orbital period relative to the distant stars. The synodic month is longer because Earth itself moves around the sun during a lunar orbit, so the moon has to travel slightly more than 360° to catch up to the same sun-Earth-moon alignment.