Moonrise, moonset & moon phase

When the moon rises and sets, which direction to look, how much of it is lit and when the next full and new moon are — for night photographers, stargazers, anglers and campers. Calculated on your device.

How the times are defined

• Moonrise and moonset: the moment the top edge of the moon meets a flat horizon, allowing for atmospheric refraction and the moon's parallax — the same definition as the U.S. Naval Observatory. Hills and buildings delay what you actually see.
• Transit: the moon at its highest point, crossing the meridian (due south from the northern mid-latitudes, due north from the southern).
• % lit is the illuminated fraction of the disc at local noon. The phase name is the primary phase (new, first quarter, full, last quarter) on the day it happens, otherwise waxing or waning crescent or gibbous.
• The disc picture shows the lit side as seen from the northern hemisphere; from the southern hemisphere it appears mirrored.
• Directions are degrees clockwise from true north, not magnetic north.

Accuracy

Positions use the lunar theory in Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms (chapters 47–48). Before release the app is checked against U.S. Naval Observatory data for New York, Seoul, London, Sydney and Los Angeles: every moonrise, transit and moonset within 2 minutes, illumination within 1 percentage point and the same phase name. Sun times on the same days are also checked against the Naval Observatory.

Privacy

Your location is used only inside this browser tab and remembered only in this browser. The optional map is the only part that contacts another server (OpenStreetMap tiles).