Find out what phase of the Moon is visible tonight and when the Moon will rise over the coming year with our guide to Moon phases and Moonrise times in 2026.
The phases of the Moon are caused by the mechanics of the Earth-Moon-Sun system: how Earth orbits the Sun and how the Moon orbits Earth.
Observing the Moon
Sometimes the Moon appears as a crescent, sometimes the Moon is full, sometimes it's half lit, sometimes it's not lit at all.
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These changes are caused by both the Moon's position relative to the Earth, and the Earth and Moon's position relative to the Sun, since it's sunlight reflecting off the Moon that causes us to see a 'lit' portion.
When describing the the phases of the Moon, 'waxing' refers to the progression from new Moon to full Moon, as the Moon's sunlight portion seems to increase every night.
'Waning' refers to the period from full Moon back to new Moon, as the Moon appears to lose more of its sunlit section every night.
Stargazing around the Moon
For the best views of deep-sky objects such as star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, observe in the week around new Moon, when the sky is really dark.
If your target is the Moon itself, pick a night when the terminator – the line that marks the boundary between day and night on the lunar surface – sits near the feature you want to see.
At this time the area will be cast in long shadows, which emphasise subtle surface details and make views more dramatic.
In the week around full Moon, its sunlit face is so bright the glare washes out the lunar landscape and makes deep-sky objects harder to view.
Phases of the Moon terminology
The phases of the Moon are as follows:
- New Moon
- Waxing crescent
- First quarter
- Waxing gibbous
- Full Moon
- Waning gibbous
- Last quarter
- Waning crescent
You can find out more about this via our complete guide to the phases of the Moon, and find out what to observe during each phase on our guide to the crescent Moon, the quarter Moon, the gibbous Moon and the full Moon.
Want to see a full Moon? Find out when the next full Moon is visible.
Moon dates, phases and times 2026
Note: times are in UTC, so must be adjusted by adding an extra hour during daylight savings.
In 2026, UTC becomes BST (UTC+1) at 01:00 on 29 March. It then reverts back to UTC at 02:00 on 29 October.
| Date | Phase | Rise | Set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | 13:20:10 | 06:53:38 | |
| 2 January | 14:20:57 | 20:00:00 | |
| 3 January | Full Moon | 15:43:23 | 09:07:16 |
| 4 January | 17:16:50 | 09:42:09 | |
| 5 January | 18:50:10 | 10:04:11 | |
| 6 January | 20:18:20 | 10:19:04 | |
| 7 January | 21:40:51 | 10:30:06 | |
| 8 January | 22:59:09 | 10:39:12 | |
| 9 January | Last quarter | --:--:-- | 10:47:34 |
| 10 January | 00:15:03 | 10:56:11 | |
| 11 January | 01:30:20 | 11:06:01 | |
| 12 January | 02:46:01 | 11:18:19 | |
| 13 January | 04:02:06 | 11:34:55 | |
| 14 January | 05:16:49 | 11:58:39 | |
| 15 January | 06:26:03 | 12:33:27 | |
| 16 January | 07:24:21 | 13:23:07 | |
| 17 January | 08:08:20 | 14:28:06 | |
| 18 January | New Moon | 08:39:08 | 15:44:12 |
| 19 January | 09:00:24 | 17:05:32 | |
| 20 January | 09:15:39 | 18:27:59 | |
| 21 January | 09:27:19 | 19:49:52 | |
| 22 January | 09:37:05 | 21:11:20 | |
| 23 January | 09:46:07 | 22:33:36 | |
| 24 January | 09:55:30 | 23:58:18 | |
| 25 January | 10:06:27 | --:--:-- | |
| 26 January | First Quarter | 10:20:38 | 01:26:42 |
| 27 January | 10:40:56 | 02:58:43 | |
| 28 January | 11:12:11 | 04:30:34 | |
| 29 January | 12:01:20 | 05:53:17 | |
| 30 January | 13:12:42 | 06:56:46 | |
| 31 January | 14:40:52 | 07:38:58 | |
| 1 February | Full Moon | 16:14:36 | 08:05:43 |
| 2 February | 17:46:03 | 08:23:22 | |
| 3 February | 19:12:32 | 08:35:59 | |
| 4 February | 20:34:25 | 08:45:55 | |
| 5 February | 21:53:11 | 08:54:39 | |
| 6 February | 23:10:26 | 09:03:12 | |
| 7 February | --:--:-- | 09:12:32 | |
| 8 February | 00:27:22 | 09:23:45 | |
| 9 February | Last Quarter | 01:44:29 | 09:38:26 |
| 10 February | 03:00:42 | 09:58:57 | |
| 11 February | 04:12:50 | 10:28:49 | |
| 12 February | 05:15:51 | 11:12:12 | |
| 13 February | 06:05:19 | 12:11:19 | |
| 14 February | 06:40:44 | 13:23:51 | |
| 15 February | 07:05:13 | 14:44:19 | |
| 16 February | 07:22:29 | 16:07:45 | |
| 17 February | New Moon | 07:35:23 | 17:31:28 |
| 18 February | 07:45:50 | 18:54:52 | |
| 19 February | 07:55:10 | 20:18:41 | |
| 20 February | 08:04:29 | 21:44:13 | |
| 21 February | 08:14:54 | 23:12:43 | |
| 22 February | 08:27:55 | --:--:-- | |
| 23 February | 08:45:51 | 00:44:17 | |
| 24 February | First Quarter | 09:12:39 | 02:16:16 |
| 25 February | 09:54:20 | 03:41:31 | |
| 26 February | 10:56:22 | 04:50:17 | |
| 27 February | 12:17:04 | 05:38:02 | |
| 28 February | 13:47:10 | 06:08:44 | |
| 1 March | 15:17:57 | 06:28:47 | |
| 2 March | 16:45:18 | 06:42:47 | |
| 3 March | Full Moon | 18:08:36 | 06:53:29 |
| 4 March | 19:28:49 | 07:02:32 | |
| 5 March | 20:47:19 | 07:11:04 | |
| 6 March | 22:05:21 | 07:20:01 | |
| 7 March | 23:23:30 | 07:30:24 | |
| 8 March | --:--:-- | 07:43:32 | |
| 9 March | 00:41:08 | 08:01:24 | |
| 10 March | 01:55:55 | 08:26:59 | |
| 11 March | Last Quarter | 03:03:19 | 09:04:13 |
| 12 March | 03:58:25 | 09:56:21 | |
| 13 March | 04:39:07 | 11:03:01 | |
| 14 March | 05:07:32 | 12:19:53 | |
| 15 March | 05:27:24 | 13:41:48 | |
| 16 March | 05:41:56 | 15:05:24 | |
| 17 March | 05:53:23 | 16:29:28 | |
| 18 March | 06:03:16 | 17:54:17 | |
| 19 March | New Moon | 06:12:46 | 19:20:58 |
| 20 March | 06:23:01 | 20:50:45 | |
| 21 March | 06:35:21 | 22:24:03 | |
| 22 March | 06:51:50 | 23:58:56 | |
| 23 March | 07:15:53 | --:--:-- | |
| 24 March | 07:52:56 | 01:28:55 | |
| 25 March | First Quarter | 08:48:54 | 02:44:05 |
| 26 March | 10:04:15 | 03:37:52 | |
| 27 March | 11:31:03 | 04:12:42 | |
| 28 March | 13:00:11 | 04:35:10 | |
| 29 March | 14:26:43 | 04:50:32 | |
| 30 March | 15:49:30 | 05:01:59 | |
| 31 March | 17:09:15 | 05:11:23 | |
| 1 April | 18:27:18 | 05:19:57 | |
| 2 April | Full Moon | 19:44:58 | 05:28:39 |
| 3 April | 21:03:01 | 05:38:25 | |
| 4 April | 22:21:14 | 05:50:26 | |
| 5 April | 23:37:46 | 06:06:22 | |
| 6 April | --:--:-- | 06:28:44 | |
| 7 April | 00:48:40 | 07:01:04 | |
| 8 April | 01:48:51 | 07:46:56 | |
| 9 April | 02:34:56 | 08:47:23 | |
| 10 April | Last Quarter | 03:07:40 | 09:59:20 |
| 11 April | 03:30:28 | 11:17:51 | |
| 12 April | 03:46:53 | 12:39:07 | |
| 13 April | 03:59:27 | 14:01:23 | |
| 14 April | 04:09:57 | 15:24:40 | |
| 15 April | 04:19:39 | 16:50:00 | |
| 16 April | 04:29:41 | 18:18:51 | |
| 17 April | New Moon | 04:41:18 | 19:52:15 |
| 18 April | 04:56:18 | 21:29:24 | |
| 19 April | 05:17:39 | 23:05:23 | |
| 20 April | 05:50:18 | --:--:-- | |
| 21 April | 06:40:47 | 00:29:53 | |
| 22 April | 07:52:03 | 01:32:59 | |
| 23 April | 09:17:42 | 02:14:18 | |
| 24 April | First Quarter | 10:47:19 | 02:40:29 |
| 25 April | 12:14:29 | 02:57:52 | |
| 26 April | 13:37:24 | 03:10:24 | |
| 27 April | 14:56:42 | 03:20:22 | |
| 28 April | 16:13:50 | 03:29:09 | |
| 29 April | 17:30:17 | 03:37:46 | |
| 30 April | 18:47:10 | 03:47:09 | |
| 1 May | Full Moon | 20:04:42 | 03:58:23 |
| 2 May | 21:21:40 | 04:12:56 | |
| 3 May | 22:34:47 | 04:32:58 | |
| 4 May | 23:39:03 | 05:01:40 | |
| 5 May | --:--:-- | 05:42:38 | |
| 6 May | 00:30:02 | 06:37:53 | |
| 7 May | 01:07:03 | 07:45:29 | |
| 8 May | 01:32:54 | 09:00:43 | |
| 9 May | Last Quarter | 01:51:14 | 10:19:16 |
| 10 May | 02:04:57 | 11:38:53 | |
| 11 May | 02:16:00 | 12:59:10 | |
| 12 May | 02:25:49 | 14:21:01 | |
| 13 May | 02:35:29 | 15:46:01 | |
| 14 May | 02:46:12 | 17:15:49 | |
| 15 May | 02:59:26 | 18:51:05 | |
| 16 May | New Moon | 03:17:39 | 20:29:24 |
| 17 May | 03:44:59 | 22:02:35 | |
| 18 May | 04:28:01 | 23:18:07 | |
| 19 May | 05:32:48 | --:--:-- | |
| 20 May | 06:56:48 | 00:09:47 | |
| 21 May | 08:28:50 | 00:42:13 | |
| 22 May | 09:59:30 | 01:03:03 | |
| 23 May | First Quarter | 11:25:14 | 01:17:28 |
| 24 May | 12:46:10 | 01:28:28 | |
| 25 May | 14:03:49 | 01:37:45 | |
| 26 May | 15:19:56 | 01:46:31 | |
| 27 May | 16:35:55 | 01:55:43 | |
| 28 May | 17:52:31 | 02:06:24 | |
| 29 May | 19:09:08 | 02:19:52 | |
| 30 May | 20:23:20 | 02:38:05 | |
| 31 May | Full Moon (Blue) | 21:30:32 | 03:03:54 |
| 1 June | 22:25:46 | 03:40:55 | |
| 2 June | 23:06:55 | 04:31:53 | |
| 3 June | 23:35:51 | 05:36:01 | |
| 4 June | 23:56:09 | 06:49:02 | |
| 5 June | --:--:-- | 08:06:04 | |
| 6 June | 00:11:02 | 09:24:05 | |
| 7 June | 00:22:39 | 10:42:10 | |
| 8 June | Last Quarter | 00:32:33 | 12:00:52 |
| 9 June | 00:41:53 | 13:21:35 | |
| 10 June | 00:51:41 | 14:46:10 | |
| 11 June | 01:03:15 | 16:16:08 | |
| 12 June | 01:18:26 | 17:51:18 | |
| 13 June | 01:40:26 | 19:27:13 | |
| 14 June | 02:14:46 | 20:53:01 | |
| 15 June | New Moon | 03:08:58 | 21:57:17 |
| 16 June | 04:26:19 | 22:38:55 | |
| 17 June | 05:58:44 | 23:05:03 | |
| 18 June | 07:33:54 | 23:22:24 | |
| 19 June | 09:04:51 | 23:35:01 | |
| 20 June | 10:30:04 | 23:45:11 | |
| 21 June | First Quarter | 11:50:38 | 23:54:21 |
| 22 June | 13:08:22 | --:--:-- | |
| 23 June | 14:24:59 | 00:03:37 | |
| 24 June | 15:41:36 | 00:13:53 | |
| 25 June | 16:58:14 | 00:26:27 | |
| 26 June | 18:13:15 | 00:43:03 | |
| 27 June | 19:22:50 | 01:06:18 | |
| 28 June | 20:21:56 | 01:39:39 | |
| 29 June | Full Moon | 21:07:14 | 02:26:27 |
| 30 June | 21:39:29 | 03:27:15 | |
