Moon Phases Explained: The 8 Phases, When Each Rises and Sets, and New Moon Dates Through April 2027
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How we wrote this: Explanations come from NASA's "Moon Phases" page; dates and times come from the U.S. Naval Observatory's Moon phase data (both linked below), checked October 29, 2026. USNO times are in Universal Time (UT); in U.S. time zones the date can fall a day earlier in the evening.
The Moon doesn't make its own light; NASA notes that "moonlight" is reflected sunlight. And the Moon is always half-lit by the Sun, just like Earth has a day side and a night side. What changes over a month is how much of that lit half we can see from Earth. That's all a phase is.
The eight phases, in order
NASA lists them as new Moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full Moon, waning gibbous, third (last) quarter, waning crescent. "Waxing" means the lit part is growing; "waning" means it's shrinking. The cycle repeats about every 29.5 days.
| Phase | What you see (Northern Hemisphere) | Rises and sets (roughly) |
|---|---|---|
| New Moon | Nothing: the lit side faces away from us | Rises and sets with the Sun |
| Waxing crescent | A thin sliver, growing nightly | Rises in the morning after sunrise, sets at night after sunset |
| First quarter | Half of the disk lit | Rises around midday, sets around the middle of the night |
| Waxing gibbous | Most of the disk lit | Rises in the afternoon, sets before sunrise |
| Full Moon | The whole face lit | Rises at sunset, sets at sunrise |
| Waning gibbous | Most of the disk, shrinking | Rises after sunset, sets after sunrise |
| Third (last) quarter | Half lit, the other half from first quarter | Rises around the middle of the night, sets around midday |
| Waning crescent | A thin curve before dawn | Rises before sunrise, sets in the afternoon |
NASA says these patterns hold at most latitudes and are only rough; exact times depend on the season and where you are. The U.S. Naval Observatory's rise/set calculator gives exact times for your location.
Two phases with misleading names
The "half Moon" is a quarter. At first quarter you see half of the Moon's disk lit, but NASA points out that's really half of the lit half, a quarter of the whole Moon. The name refers to the Moon being a quarter of the way through its monthly trip.
The new Moon usually isn't between us and the Sun. At new Moon the Moon is in the same part of the sky as the Sun, but NASA explains it doesn't usually pass directly between Earth and the Sun, because the Moon's orbit is tilted. (For the times it does, see our 2027 total solar eclipse guide.)
29.5 days or 27.3 days?
NASA gives both numbers. The Moon goes around Earth once every 27.322 days, but it takes about 29.5 days to go from new Moon to new Moon.
NASA also gives the Moon's average distance: 238,855 miles (384,399 km), about the space of 30 Earths.
Why we always see the same side
The Moon is tidally locked: NASA says it spins on its axis exactly once per orbit, so the same face always points toward Earth. That's why the "man in the Moon" never turns away, and why the far side can never be seen from Earth.
But not exactly the same. Over a month the Moon appears to nod, twist and roll slightly, a motion called libration. NASA explains that the Moon's orbit isn't a perfect circle, so its speed changes while its spin stays constant, letting us peek a little around its eastern and western edges. Its tilted orbit lets us see a bit more of its north or south.
Earthshine and daytime Moons
Earthshine. During a crescent phase you can sometimes see the dark part of the Moon glowing faintly. NASA says that's sunlight reflected off Earth onto the Moon. From the Moon, Earth looks nearly full at that time, so it's bright enough to light the Moon's night side dimly.
Daytime Moons. The Moon is often visible in daylight as a pale shape. From the table above, a first quarter Moon is up in the afternoon, and a third quarter Moon is still up in the morning.
New and quarter Moon dates, November 2026 to April 2027
From the U.S. Naval Observatory (times in UT). For full Moon dates, see our full moon calendar.
| Month | Last quarter | New Moon | First quarter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2026 | Nov 1, 20:28 | Nov 9, 07:02 | Nov 17, 11:48 |
| Dec 2026 | Dec 1, 06:08 and Dec 30, 18:59 | Dec 9, 00:52 | Dec 17, 05:42 |
| Jan 2027 | Jan 29, 10:55 | Jan 7, 20:24 | Jan 15, 20:34 |
| Feb 2027 | Feb 28, 05:16 | Feb 6, 15:56 | Feb 14, 07:58 |
| Mar 2027 | Mar 30, 00:54 | Mar 8, 09:29 | Mar 15, 16:25 |
| Apr 2027 | Apr 28, 20:18 | Apr 6, 23:51 | Apr 13, 22:56 |
Why skywatchers care: the nights around a new Moon are the darkest, best for faint stars, the Milky Way and meteor showers. The Geminids peak in mid-December 2026, a few days after the December 9 new Moon; see our Geminid guide. NASA notes that a first quarter Moon is high in the sky in the evening and "makes for excellent viewing," a good night for binoculars or a beginner telescope.
A month-long family project
NASA offers a free Moon observation journal for spending a month getting to know the Moon, and its Daily Moon Guide shows the Moon for each day of the year. A simple version: look at the same time each evening, sketch the shape, and compare your notes with the rise-and-set table above.