Home > Sun & Moon > Moon > Moon Phase Calculator > About the Moon Phase Calculator

About the Moon Phase Calculator

The Moon Phase Calculator calculates moon, or lunar, phases for any year between 1 and 2100. Any location available through the World Clock may be selected, and the calculator will adjust for local time. If the selected location observes daylight saving time during parts of the year, the times shown will reflect that.

Please note: This tool provides the exact times and dates of the moon phases irrespective of the moon's actual visibility. For example, a full moon may occur before moonrise or after moonset.

Find out times for moonrise and moonset in your location

See where the moon is currently over the horizon


The lunation number represents the number of times the Moon has cycled the Earth since January 1923 (based on a series described by Ernest W. Brown in Planetary Theory, 1933). One cycle, or lunation, starts at new moon and lasts until the next new moon.


Duration is the number of days (d), hours (h), and minutes (m) between one new moon and the following one. The average value is 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and is called a synodic month. The duration varies from one lunation to another, most importantly because the orbit of the Earth and Moon are ellipses rather than circles, where the orbit speed depends on how close the orbiting object is to the mass center. For example, the Moon moves faster when it is closest to the Earth. Some years, such as 2004, have relatively small duration differences throughout the year (five hours difference between minimum and maximum duration), while the year 2008 will have larger differences (more than twelve hours).

Moon Phases

The moon phases depend on the position of both the Sun and Moon with respect to the Earth. The Moon Phase Calculator shows only the four primary phases of the Moon: new, first quarter, full and third quarter. However, the intermediate phases between the primary phases―waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, waning gibbous, and waning crescent―will also be described below.
Position of Moon, Earth and Sun at New Moon
New Moon―Positions of the Sun (left), the Moon (middle), and the Earth (right) at new moon, as seen from the northern direction of the solar system. The arrows show the direction of the sun's rays, and the bright part of the Moon and Earth shows the part illuminated by the sun. Note that the true distance between the Sun, Earth, and Moon is much larger than showed in these illustrations.

New Moon

In the Moon Phase Calculator, new moon is the moment when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction, meaning that the Sun and Earth are on the opposite sides of the Moon. New moon cannot normally be seen from the Earth, however, since only the dark side of the Moon faces the Earth. Sometimes, if the Moon lies directly between the Earth and the Sun during the new moon phase, a solar eclipse occurs as the Earth enters the Moon's shadow. In most locations on Earth, only a fraction of the Sun will be obscured, in a partial solar eclipse. Locations where the center of the shadow passes over experience a total eclipse in which the Moon completely obscures the Sun, or an annular or ring eclipse, in which the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than the Sun.

Waxing Crescent Moon

Position of Moon, Earth and Sun at First Quarter
First Quarter Moon―The Moon has now moved 90 degrees from the SunEarth axis, in a counter-clockwise direction (as seen from the northern part of the solar system).

First Quarter Moon


Waxing Gibbous Moon

The waxing gibbous moon occurs between the first quarter and the full moon. The sun illuminates more than half of the Moon's surface during this period.
Position of Moon, Earth and Sun at Full Moon
Full Moon―The Moon has completed 180 degrees of its path around the Earth, and the bright part of it faces the Earth.

Full Moon

Full moon appears when the Sun and the Moon are on opposite sides of the Earth. As seen from Earth, all of the Moon's surface will be visible. The full moon is visible approximately from sunset to sunrise. When observed from Earth, the Moon can appear to be full for a couple of days, since more than 98 percent of the Moon's disc is illuminated a day before or after the full moon. During full moon, the Moon may pass through Earth's shadow causing a lunar eclipse. If the whole moon is in the Earth's shadow, or umbra, a total lunar eclipse occurs. If only a part of the Moon enters the umbra, we see a partial lunar eclipse.

Waning Gibbous Moon

Position of Moon, Earth and Sun at Third Quarter
Third Quarter Moon―The Moon is now in a position 270 degrees from the original, as observed from the Earth.

Third Quarter Moon


Waning Crescent Moon


Local Time Conversion

The moon phase calculator automatically takes into account daylight saving time at the selected location, except for UTC/GMT. To display the moon phases for a location within this timezone (e.g. London) please select the city - not UTC/GMT. If you select a future year, the results may be wrong due to future changes in a country's daylight saving time rules. For years before the introduction of standard time zones, the calculator may display "local mean solar time", which is an average yearly value based on the moment when the sun passes a location's meridian. In reality, this moment may differ by up to 17 minutes from the average passing time.

Calculation Accuracy

For years between 1600 and 2100, the accuracy of the times calculated should be within one minute of the real time. Times for 2007 have been compared to those listed in The Astronomical Almanac for the Year 2007, and the same time is listed in 47 of 50 phases with a one-minute difference in the remaining three phases, so it should be accurate enough for most purposes. For years before 1600, accuracy will be less as we calculate back in time up to a probable error of 15 minutes in year 1.

Astronomy calculators

Calendar tools

Related time zone tools