Moon Phase Calendar: Every Full and New Moon

The Moon goes from new to full and back in about 29.5 days: new moon, first quarter, full moon, last quarter, each about a week apart. This calendar gives each phase to the minute in your own time zone, from the U.S. Naval Observatory’s data, with each full moon’s name and the dark nights around the new moon.

How to use it

Type your town (or “lat, lon”, or use your location), then pick a month, or “The whole year” for a table of all twelve months. The month view is a calendar: every day’s moon with its moonrise (↑) and moonset (↓), the exact phase days with their times, and the dark nights marked with a star, when there are 4 hours or more of full darkness with the Moon down. The answer names the month’s full moon and says when it is, in your time zone. Print the calendar to keep it on the fridge. The link keeps your place and month; your own location never goes into it.

What a phase is, and why your time zone matters

A phase is an instant, not a day. The U.S. Naval Observatory: “Technically, the phases New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon, and Last Quarter are defined to occur when the excess of the apparent ecliptic (celestial) longitude of the Moon over that of the Sun is 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees, respectively.” Its tables are in Universal Time (“In the output table, the date indicates the day, hour, minute, respectively, of Universal Time.”), so a full moon late in the evening in Los Angeles is already the next day in London. This page turns every phase into your place’s own time zone, daylight saving included, before it puts it on a day. The cycle itself: “Following waning crescent is New Moon, beginning a repetition of the complete phase cycle of 29.5 days average duration.”

Moonrise and moonset

Each day in the calendar shows when the Moon rises and sets where you are, and the answer gives today’s under “Tonight”. The times follow the Naval Observatory’s definition: “Sunrise and sunset conventionally refer to the times when the upper edge of the disk of the Sun is on the horizon. Atmospheric conditions are assumed to be average, and the location is in a level region on the Earth’s surface. Moonrise and moonset times are computed for exactly the same circumstances as for sunrise and sunset.” The page computes them in your browser for any place, and they land within a few minutes of the Naval Observatory’s own times (checked on 44 days in New York, Anchorage and Honolulu). A time within a few minutes of midnight can land on the day next to the Observatory’s. A hill, trees or buildings on your horizon make a moonrise later and a moonset earlier. The Moon rises about 50 minutes later each day on average, and the gap swings with the season and your latitude: through 2027 it runs from 20 to 82 minutes in New York and from 31 to 71 in Honolulu. Here is the week of the November 2026 supermoon in New York, in the Naval Observatory’s own figures:

The full moon of November 24 rises at 4:16 PM, right around sunset, and sets after sunrise the next morning. The days before it, the Moon rises in the afternoon; the days after, later each evening.

The full moons of 2027, Eastern Time

Twelve full moons and no Blue Moon in 2027. For another place or year, choose it above.

The full moon names

The names in common use, month by month, are the Old Farmer’s Almanac’s list: Wolf Moon (January), Snow Moon (February), Worm Moon (March), Pink Moon (April), Flower Moon (May), Strawberry Moon (June), Buck Moon (July), Sturgeon Moon (August), Corn Moon (September), Hunter’s Moon (October), Beaver Moon (November) and Cold Moon (December). One name moves: “The Harvest Moon is the Full Moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox.” That is usually September’s, but in 2028 it is October’s (October 3), because the equinox falls on September 22, 18½ days after the September full moon and 11 days before the October one. The page uses the Naval Observatory’s own equinox times to decide it.

Blue Moons

The Naval Observatory: “When there are two Full Moons in a month (which occurs, on average, every 2.7 years), the second one is called a “Blue Moon”.” Because a month is a local thing, a Blue Moon can be one in New York and none in Tokyo: the full moon of December 31, 2028 falls on January 1 in Japan. The calendar checks the months in your own time zone. The next ones in New York: May 31, 2026 and December 31, 2028.

Supermoons

NASA: ““Supermoon” isn’t an official astronomical term, but typically it’s used to describe a full Moon that comes within at least 90 percent of perigee.” Perigee is the Moon’s closest point to Earth in each orbit, “about 226,000 miles (363,300 km) from Earth”, and apogee its farthest, “about 251,000 miles (405,500 km) from Earth.” The calendar takes each full moon’s distance from NASA JPL’s Horizons system and marks it a supermoon when it lies at least 90% of the way from its orbit’s apogee to its perigee. The supermoons of 2026–2030, Eastern Time, with the distance and how close it comes:

NASA lists the same two upcoming supermoons of 2026: “November 24, 2026 (14:54 UTC)” and “December 24, 2026 (01:28 UTC)”. The opposite is the smallest full moon of the year, the farthest; NASA’s comparison slider labels it a micromoon. They are May 31, 2026 (406,135 km) · July 18, 2027 (405,979 km) · September 3, 2028 (406,158 km) · October 22, 2029 (406,276 km) · December 9, 2030 (406,296 km). The difference is real but hard to see by eye: “At its closest point, the full Moon can appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the faintest Moon of the year, which occurs when it’s farthest from Earth in its orbit.”

Worked examples

• A camping trip with dark skies. New York City, October 2026: the new moon is October 10, and the 16 nights from October 4 to 19 have 4 hours or more of darkness with the Moon down. Plan the trip for that week, and check the clouds with the Stargazing Planner.
• A full-moon hike. The Hunter’s Moon of October 2026 is full on October 26 in New York; the nights just before and after are nearly as bright, with the Moon rising around sunset.
• Bioluminescence. The glow shows best on moonless nights: the Florida Bioluminescence Planner ranks Florida’s paddling spots by the same darkness.

Common mistakes

• Reading a full moon date in another time zone. A list in Universal Time can put the full moon a day off where you are. This calendar never does.
• Calling the night before the full moon the full moon. The Moon looks full for two or three nights; the full moon itself is one instant, given here to the minute.
• Expecting a moonrise every day. Because the Moon rises later each day, some days have none: in New York, November 2, 2026 has a moonset at 1:37 PM and no moonrise, because the Moon rises again just after midnight. The Naval Observatory: “It is also possible that a moonrise or moonset does not occur relative to a specific place on a given date.” The calendar writes “no rise” or “no set” on those days.
• Planning stargazing for the full moon. Moonlight hides the faint stars and the Milky Way: the dark nights are the ones around the new moon.

Under dark skies

Where the stars are best: the dark sky parks of the US and the darkest skies on Earth; which states can see the Milky Way and where to see it in Florida. On the water: can you see bioluminescence from the beach in Florida?

FAQ

What is a moon phase calendar?

A calendar that marks each day’s Moon and the four primary phases: new moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter, one cycle about every 29.5 days. This one gives each phase to the minute in your time zone, each day’s moonrise and moonset, names the full moon, and stars the dark nights.

What time does the moon rise tonight?

Open the calendar on this month with your town: “Tonight” under the answer gives today’s moonrise and moonset where you are, and every day of the month shows its own. The Moon rises about 50 minutes later each day on average; near the full moon it rises around sunset, near the new moon around sunrise.

When is the next full moon?

Open the calendar on this month: the answer gives the full moon’s day and time where you are. In New York, the full moons of 2027 are listed above.

What are the full moon names?

Wolf, Snow, Worm, Pink, Flower, Strawberry, Buck, Sturgeon, Corn, Hunter’s, Beaver and Cold Moon, January to December. The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the September equinox, usually September’s.

What is a Blue Moon?

The second full moon in one calendar month. The next in New York are May 31, 2026 and December 31, 2028; it depends on your time zone, so the calendar checks yours.

What is a new moon calendar for?

Finding the darkest nights: stargazing, photographing the Milky Way, watching meteor showers or bioluminescence. The calendar stars every night with 4 hours or more of full darkness with the Moon down.

Why is the full moon on a different date in another country?

A full moon is one instant for the whole Earth, and that instant falls on different calendar days in different time zones. Pick the place you will be.

When is the next supermoon?

In New York the next ones are November 24, 2026 and December 23, 2026 (December 24 in Universal Time, as NASA lists it), then January 22 and February 20, 2027. The calendar marks each supermoon on its day and names the next one under the answer.