# What phase is the Moon tonight?

> Moon phase today, live: how much of the Moon is lit right now, when the next full and new Moon come, and why the phases change, north and south.

HTML: https://www.theuniversecounts.com/earth-and-moon/the-moon/moon-phase

Numbers as of 2026-11-04 15:05 UTC. Live ones keep changing on the HTML page.

Right now 22 per cent of the Moon's face is lit, as seen from the centre of the Earth. The map below draws the Moon as it looks tonight and shows where it is in your sky. The next full Moon is on 24 November 2026, and the next new Moon on 9 November 2026. One whole cycle, from new Moon to full and back, takes 30 days on average. Everyone on Earth sees the same phase tonight, though from the Southern Hemisphere it looks upside down.

- Time until the next full Moon: 19d 23h 47m 33s
- Time until the next new Moon: 4d 15h 56m 33s
- The Moon's distance from Earth right now: 382,270 km

## Half the Moon is always lit

What is a Moon phase?

The Moon makes no light of its own. What we see is sunlight bouncing off its grey rock and dust. At every moment the Sun lights exactly half of the Moon, the half that faces it, just as it lights half of the Earth. The other half is in night.

As the Moon circles us, we see that lit half from a changing angle. When the Moon is on the far side of the Earth from the Sun, its whole day side faces us: a full Moon. When it passes between us and the Sun, its day side faces away and we see almost nothing: a new Moon. In between, we see part of the lit half. That changing shape is the phase.

There are eight named steps. After new Moon comes a waxing crescent, a thin sliver that grows night by night. At first quarter we see half the face lit; it is called a quarter because the Moon is a quarter of the way round. Then comes a waxing gibbous Moon, more than half lit, and the full Moon. After that the same shapes return in reverse, waning gibbous, last quarter and waning crescent, until the Moon slips into the Sun's glare again.

## From new Moon to full Moon and back

When is the next full Moon?

From one new Moon to the next takes 30 days on average. Many cultures built their calendars on this rhythm, and the Chinese, Hebrew and Hindu calendars still follow it, adding an extra month now and then to stay in step with the seasons.

Measured against the stars, the Moon goes once round the Earth in only 27 days. The cycle of phases takes longer because the Earth moves on along its path round the Sun in the meantime. To line up with the Sun again and show the same phase, the Moon has to travel a little further.

Not every cycle is the same length. One can run several hours longer or shorter than the average, because the Moon's orbit is an oval and the Sun's pull keeps stretching and twisting it.

The next full Moon is 20 days away. Around new Moon, 4.7 days from now, come the darkest nights of the month, the best for faint stars and meteors.

## Why the Moon rises later each night

When does the Moon rise?

Like the Sun and the stars, the Moon rises in the east and sets in the west because the Earth turns. But the Moon is also on the move. It travels round us at 1.022 kilometres per second, heading east against the stars. Along its path it covers its own width in about 57 minutes.

So after one turn of the Earth, the Moon has moved on, and the Earth has to turn a little further to bring it back into view. That is why the Moon rises later each night, on average by a little under an hour.

The phase tells you when to look. A full Moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise, so it is up all night. A first quarter Moon is high in the evening and sets around the middle of the night. A last quarter Moon rises around the middle of the night and is still up in the morning. A crescent stays close to the Sun, low in the west after sunset or low in the east before dawn. For much of the month, the Moon is up in daylight too.

Since you opened this page, the Moon has travelled [counts up live on the page] kilometres along its path around us.

## The same face, always

Why do we only see one side of the Moon?

Whatever its phase, the Moon always shows us the same face: the same dark patches, the same bright craters. That is not because it doesn't spin. It turns once on its axis in exactly the time it takes to go round the Earth, 27 days. So as it circles us, it keeps the same side turned our way.

This is called tidal locking, and it is common: all the large moons in the solar system are locked to their planets. When the Moon was young, hot and closer to us, the Earth's pull stretched it into a slight bulge. As the Moon spun, that bulge was always a little out of line, and the tug of war slowed the spin until one turn matched one orbit.

It does not mean the far side is dark. It gets just as much sunlight as the side we see. At new Moon, when we see no lit face at all, the far side is in full daylight.

The match isn't perfect, either. Because the orbit is an oval and tilted, the Moon seems to nod and rock a little over each month, and over time we can peek a little way round its edges.

## Why the dark part glows

What is earthshine?

Look at a thin crescent Moon in a darkening sky, a few days before or after new Moon. Often the rest of the disc shows too, a faint grey ball cradled in the bright curve. That soft glow is earthshine.

It is sunlight that has bounced off the Earth, crossed to the Moon and bounced back to your eyes. When the Moon is a thin crescent to us, the Earth seen from the Moon is nearly full: a big, bright disc in the lunar sky. Its light is enough to dimly light the Moon's night side.

So when you see earthshine, part of what you are looking at is our own planet's light, sent back to us from the Moon. Right now the Moon is 382,270 kilometres away, and light takes 1.24 seconds to cross that gap. The glow you see has made the trip twice, out and back, before it reaches you.

## The Moon from the south

Is the Moon phase the same everywhere?

Everyone on Earth sees the same phase on the same night. A full Moon over Copenhagen is a full Moon over Sydney. What changes is which way up it is.

From the Southern Hemisphere, the Moon looks upside down compared with the view from the north. A waning crescent that is lit on the left for someone in Europe is lit on the right for someone in Australia, and a waxing crescent swaps the other way. The familiar dark patches are turned round too.

The reason is the way we face to see it. From the middle of the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon mostly crosses the southern half of the sky, so people face south to look at it. From South Africa, Chile or Australia it mostly crosses the northern half, and people face north. Turn around, and the picture turns with you.

So tonight the same lit half of the same Moon shines down on everyone who looks up, wherever they stand, only tilted to suit each place. Two people on opposite sides of the world, both watching it, are looking at one and the same thing.

## FAQ

### When is the next full Moon?

On 24 November 2026. Full Moons come once in every cycle of phases, on average every 30 days. The exact moment, to the minute, comes from the US Naval Observatory. For a night or so either side, the Moon looks almost as full.

### When is the next new Moon?

On 9 November 2026. A new Moon sits close to the Sun in the sky and can't be seen. The nights around it are the darkest of the month, the best for meteors and faint stars.

### What kind of Moon is it tonight?

The map at the top draws tonight's Moon in its phase. A Moon less than half lit is a crescent, and one more than half lit is gibbous. If it is growing towards full it is waxing; if it is shrinking it is waning. First quarter and last quarter are the two moments when exactly half the face is lit.

### Why can I see the Moon in the daytime?

Because it is up during the day about as often as at night. Around first and last quarter it is often in the sky with the Sun, and it is bright enough to see in a blue sky. It is harder to notice than at night, but it is there.

### Is the Moon phase the same all over the world?

Yes. Everyone sees the same phase on the same night. From the Southern Hemisphere the Moon appears upside down, so a crescent lit on the left in Europe is lit on the right in Australia.

## Related

- [How far away is the Moon right now?](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/earth-and-moon/the-moon/how-far-is-the-moon.md)
- [Planets visible tonight](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/you/your-sky/planets-tonight.md)
- [Counting the stars you can see](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/stars/the-stars-you-can-see/how-many-stars-can-you-see.md)
- [Meteor showers](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/earth-and-moon/meteors-and-fireballs/meteor-showers.md)

Tonight the same half-lit Moon hangs over everyone who looks up, the right way up for some and upside down for others. Who would you like to be looking at it with?

## Sources

- Average time from one new Moon to the next (the synodic month) (Measured): [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Eclipses and the Moon's Orbit (Fred Espenak)](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/moonorbit.html); [NASA NSSDCA: Moon Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html)
- Earth's diameter at the equator (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Earth Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html)
- How much of the Moon's face is lit right now, as seen from Earth's centre (Measured): [NASA JPL: JPL Horizons observer ephemeris of the Moon from Earth's centre (illuminated fraction and Sun-observer-target angle)](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND=%27301%27&OBJ_DATA=%27NO%27&MAKE_EPHEM=%27YES%27&EPHEM_TYPE=%27OBSERVER%27&CENTER=%27500%40399%27&START_TIME=%272026-11-04%2011%3A00%27&STOP_TIME=%272026-11-04%2011%3A10%27&STEP_SIZE=%2710m%27&QUANTITIES=%2710%2C23%27)
- The Moon's average speed along its orbit around Earth (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Moon Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html)
- The Moon's distance from Earth right now (Measured): [NASA: Moon Facts](https://science.nasa.gov/moon/facts/)
- The Moon's mean diameter (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Moon Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html)
- Time light takes to travel from the Moon to Earth, at today's distance (Measured): [NASA JPL: JPL Horizons observer ephemeris of the Moon from Earth (illumination, range and one-way light time)](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND='301'&OBJ_DATA='NO'&CENTER='500@399'&EPHEM_TYPE='OBSERVER'&QUANTITIES='10,20,21'&START_TIME='2026-10-29%2019:00'&STOP_TIME='2026-10-29%2020:00'&STEP_SIZE='1h')
- Time the Moon takes to go once around Earth, measured against the stars (the sidereal month) (Measured): [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Eclipses and the Moon's Orbit (Fred Espenak)](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/moonorbit.html); [NASA NSSDCA: Moon Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html)
- Time until the next full Moon (Measured): [US Naval Observatory: Phases of the Moon, 2026 (USNO Astronomical Applications API)](https://aa.usno.navy.mil/api/moon/phases/year?year=2026)
- Time until the next new Moon (Measured): [US Naval Observatory: Phases of the Moon, 2026 (USNO Astronomical Applications API)](https://aa.usno.navy.mil/api/moon/phases/year?year=2026)
- Typical adult walking speed (Estimated): [Physiotherapy (Elsevier): Normal walking speed: a descriptive meta-analysis (Physiotherapy 97(3), 182–189)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2010.12.004)
- Typical muzzle velocity of a rifle bullet (Estimated): [Headquarters, Department of the Army: FM 3-22.9 Rifle Marksmanship: M16A1, M16A2/3, M16A4, and M4 Carbine (April 2003)](https://www.bits.de/NRANEU/others/amd-us-archive/FM3-22.9%2803%29.pdf)