Enter any date to find the Moon phase for that day. Your results include the phase name (New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, etc.), illumination percentage, Moon age in days, and a visual breakdown of the lunar cycle. Great for finding which Moon phase you were born under or planning around upcoming lunar events.
Moon Phase
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Illumination
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Moon Age
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Days to Next Full Moon
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Phase Symbol
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The 8 Moon phases in order are: New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Last (Third) Quarter, and Waning Crescent. After the Waning Crescent the cycle resets back to a New Moon. The full cycle takes approximately 29.5 days.
Simply enter your birth date into the calculator above and it will tell you exactly which Moon phase was present on the day you were born, along with the illumination percentage and Moon age. Many astrology traditions associate personality traits with your birth Moon phase.
The lunar cycle — also called a synodic month — is the time it takes the Moon to complete all 8 phases from one New Moon to the next. This takes approximately 29.53 days. During this time, the Moon orbits Earth and we observe different fractions of its illuminated surface from our viewpoint.
The illumination percentage tells you how much of the Moon's visible surface is lit up by the Sun from Earth's perspective. A New Moon has 0% illumination (invisible), a Full Moon has 100% illumination, and the Quarter phases are at roughly 50%. The calculator shows this value for any date you enter.
Full Moon names come from Native American, Colonial American, and other cultural traditions that used the lunar calendar to track seasons and natural events. Each month's Full Moon was named after a seasonal occurrence — for example, the Strawberry Moon in June marks the strawberry harvesting season in North America.
The Full Moon is brightest and most visible, rising around sunset and setting around sunrise. Waxing phases are best viewed in the evening sky after sunset, while Waning phases are more visible in the pre-dawn sky. During a New Moon, the Moon is not visible at night as it rises and sets with the Sun.
This calculator uses a well-established astronomical algorithm based on the Julian Date and known lunar cycle constants to compute the Moon's age and phase for any given date. It is accurate for general purposes and matches results from major astronomical observatories for dates from 1900 onwards.
Moonrise and moonset times vary by location and date. As a general rule, the Full Moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. The First Quarter Moon rises around noon and sets around midnight, while the Last Quarter rises around midnight and sets around noon. Exact local times depend on your latitude and longitude.