The Phases of the Moon: All 8 Explained, What Causes Them and What Each One Means

The Phases of the Moon at a Glance

Number of phases	Eight: four main phases and four in between
One full cycle	About 29.5 days (29.53 on average), new moon to new moon
The Moon’s orbit	About 27.3 days, shorter than the cycle because the Sun moves too
What causes them	The changing Sun, Earth and Moon angle, not Earth’s shadow
The four main phases	New moon 0% lit, first quarter 50%, full moon 100%, last quarter 50%
How long each phase lasts	About 3.7 days each; the main phases are about 7.4 days apart
Next main phase (as of November 6, 2026)	New moon in Scorpio, Monday, November 9, 2:02 AM Eastern
Your birth phase	Moon degree minus Sun degree, read against eight 45 degree slices

What Causes the Phases of the Moon?

The Sun always lights half of the Moon, the same way it always lights half of Earth. NASA puts it plainly: the Sun illuminates half of the Moon while the other half stays dark, and what changes is how much of that lit half we can see as the Moon travels round its orbit. At new moon the lit half faces away from us. At full moon it faces straight at us. Everything else is in between.

So the phases are not Earth’s shadow creeping across the Moon. Earth’s shadow does fall on the Moon now and then, and that event has its own name: a lunar eclipse. NASA says lunar eclipses happen at the full moon phase, and counts four to seven eclipses of all kinds in a year. The ordinary phases happen every single night.

Why is the cycle 29.5 days when the Moon orbits Earth in only 27.3? Because the Sun moves too, from our point of view. Here is the working, using NASA’s figures of 27.3217 days for the orbit and 365.25 days for the year:

• The Moon moves 360 divided by 27.3217, about 13.18 degrees a day along the zodiac.
• The Sun moves 360 divided by 365.25, about 0.99 degrees a day.
• The gap between them grows by 13.18 minus 0.99, about 12.19 degrees a day.
• A full lap of 360 degrees at 12.19 a day takes 360 divided by 12.19, about 29.5 days.

That extra two days is the Moon catching up with a Sun that kept walking. NASA’s fact sheet gives the exact average as 29.53 days, and the US Naval Observatory calls each loop a lunation.

The 8 Phases of the Moon in Order

NASA lists the eight lunar phases in this order: new Moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full Moon, waning gibbous, third quarter (which it also calls last quarter) and waning crescent. Waxing means the lit part is growing. Waning means it is shrinking.

Each phase is really an angle. The US Naval Observatory defines the four main phases by how far the Moon sits ahead of the Sun along the zodiac: 0 degrees for new moon, 90 for first quarter, 180 for full moon and 270 for last quarter. The four in between phases fill the gaps, and we give each one at its midpoint below. Percent lit comes from that same angle, and our moon phases today page shows the formula. The day of the cycle is the angle’s share of 360, times 29.53.

Phase	Angle, lit	Day of the cycle
New moon	0°, 0%	Day 0
Waxing crescent	45°, 15%	Day 3.7
First quarter	90°, 50%	Day 7.4
Waxing gibbous	135°, 85%	Day 11.1
Full moon	180°, 100%	Day 14.8
Waning gibbous	225°, 85%	Day 18.5
Last quarter	270°, 50%	Day 22.1
Waning crescent	315°, 15%	Day 25.8

How long does each phase last? Divide the cycle by eight: 29.53 divided by 8 is 3.69, so about 3.7 days per named phase. The four main phases are a quarter of the cycle apart: 29.53 divided by 4 is 7.38, about 7.4 days. We say about because the Moon’s speed in its orbit varies, as the Naval Observatory notes, so some weeks run a little long and others a little short.

When is each phase in the sky? The sky turns 360 degrees in 24 hours, which is 15 degrees an hour. So a Moon 90 degrees ahead of the Sun runs about six hours behind it: it rises around midday and sets around midnight. That rule gives you every phase below, and the New York times from the US Naval Observatory show how close it comes in real life.

New moon

Angle 0, nothing lit. The Moon is up all day with the Sun and you cannot see it: on November 9, 2026 the Moon rises over New York at 7:07 AM, half an hour after the 6:36 AM sunrise, and sets ten minutes before the Sun. In astrology the Sun and Moon are conjunct, together in the same sign. The keyword is beginning. Set one or two intentions, then rest. The new moon in Virgo guide shows how a new moon reads through its sign.

Waxing crescent

Angle 45, about 15% lit, a thin curve of light on the right side (north of the equator). It hangs low in the west after sunset and sets about three hours after the Sun. The aspect is a semisquare, a small friction aspect. The keyword is committing: take the first small step toward what you started.

First quarter

Angle 90, half lit on the right. It rises around midday and is high in the sky at dusk, the easiest Moon to catch after dinner. On November 17, 2026 it rises over New York at 12:52 PM, is highest at 6:19 PM and sets at 11:56 PM. The Sun and Moon are square, the aspect of tension that gets things moving. The keyword is acting: push through the first obstacle.

Waxing gibbous

Angle 135, about 85% lit. Gibbous means humped, from the Latin gibbus, and it is a Moon that is more than half but not all lit. It rises in the afternoon and sets in the small hours, so it is up for most of the night. The aspect is a sesquiquadrate, a nagging adjustment. The keyword is refining: fix what is not working before the peak.

Full moon

Angle 180, fully lit. It rises around sunset and stays up all night. On November 24, 2026, the Beaver Moon rises over New York at 4:16 PM, sixteen minutes before the 4:32 PM sunset. That same morning it set at 7:05 AM, twelve minutes after the 6:53 AM sunrise. The Sun and Moon are in opposition, in opposite signs, the aspect of seeing clearly. The keyword is culmination: celebrate, notice what the light shows, let one thing go. Our full moon rituals guide has five simple ways.

Waning gibbous

Angle 225, about 85% lit and now shrinking from the right. It rises a few hours after sunset and is still up after sunrise. Another sesquiquadrate, this time on the way down. The keyword is sharing: gratitude, and the conversations the full moon opened.

Last quarter

Angle 270, half lit on the left. NASA says it rises around the middle of the night and sets around midday. Over New York the Moon rises at 11:28 PM on November 30, 2026, is highest at 6:05 AM on December 1, an hour before sunrise, and sets at 12:30 PM. A second square, the one that asks you to decide. The keyword is releasing: clear, cancel, forgive, finish. Our guide to the best day to cut hair shows the waxing and waning rule in daily use.

Waning crescent

Angle 315, about 15% lit, a thin curve of light on the left. It rises a few hours before the Sun and shows low in the east before dawn. The closing semisquare. In astrological tradition this is the balsamic phase. The keyword is resting: do less on purpose. The longer read on all eight is in our moon phases spiritual meaning guide.

Waxing or Waning? How to Tell

Waxing covers the four phases from new moon to full, when the lit part grows each night. Waning covers the four from full moon back to new, when it shrinks. If the next main phase is the first quarter or the full moon, the Moon is waxing tonight. If the next is the last quarter or the new moon, it is waning.

You can also read it with your eyes. NASA describes the waxing crescent, seen from the Northern Hemisphere, as a thin crescent of light on the right, and the waning crescent as a thin crescent of light on the left. So in the US: light on the right means waxing, light on the left means waning.

South of the equator, swap the sides. NASA notes that from the other hemisphere the Moon is in the same phase but appears upside down, and gives the example of a waning crescent lit on the left from the Northern Hemisphere and on the right from the Southern.

The Next Moon Phases

As of November 6, 2026, the Moon is a waning crescent, between the last quarter of November 1 and the new moon of November 9.

Here are the next four main phases, with the sign the Moon is in at each. Times are from the US Naval Observatory, converted to Eastern (US daylight time ended on November 1, so Eastern is five hours behind Universal Time for all four).

Phase	Sign	When (Eastern)
New moon	Scorpio	Mon, Nov 9, 2:02 AM
First quarter	Aquarius	Tue, Nov 17, 6:48 AM
Full moon (Beaver Moon)	Gemini	Tue, Nov 24, 9:53 AM
Last quarter	Virgo	Tue, Dec 1, 1:08 AM

The Scorpio new moon lands at 2:02 AM Eastern, 1:02 AM Central, 12:02 AM Mountain and 11:02 PM Pacific on the night of November 8. A new moon in Scorpio asks for an honest intention, the kind you would not say out loud at a party. Pick one thing you actually want and write it down.

The full moon is the Beaver Moon in Gemini on November 24: 9:53 AM Eastern, 8:53 AM Central, 7:53 AM Mountain, 6:53 AM Pacific. A Gemini full moon wants the conversation you have been putting off. Our Beaver Moon guide has viewing times and three rituals.

New Moon vs Full Moon: The Key Differences

What are the key differences between a new moon and a full moon? They are the two ends of the cycle, and they are opposite in nearly every way.

	New moon	Full moon
Angle from the Sun	0 degrees	180 degrees
Lit	0%	100%
Aspect	Conjunction	Opposition
Signs	Sun and Moon in the same sign	Sun and Moon in opposite signs
Rises	With the Sun	Around sunset
Visible	No, it is up in daylight	All night
Astrology	Begin	Culminate

At new moon the Moon sits between Earth and the Sun, its lit half turned away from us, so the sky is dark and the stars are at their best. At full moon Earth sits between the Sun and the Moon, the lit half faces us, and the Moon rises as the Sun sets.

In astrology the two phases carry the same contrast. A new moon is the Sun and Moon conjunct in one sign, a single clear note: a seed, a start, an intention. A full moon is the Sun and Moon in opposite signs, two voices at once, which is why full moons feel loud and bring things to a head. The November 24 full moon, for example, is the Moon in Gemini facing the Sun in Sagittarius.

The Moon’s Movements, in Plain Words

What are the movements of the Moon? There are four worth knowing, and the phases are the result of them.

1. It orbits Earth once every 27.3 days (27.3217 in NASA’s fact sheet), at an average distance of about 384,400 km. The orbit is slightly oval, so the distance runs from roughly 357,000 to 407,000 km over a year.
2. It turns once per orbit. NASA calls this synchronous rotation: the Moon spins at the same rate it goes round us, so the same hemisphere always faces Earth. That is why you see the same face every night.
3. It travels with Earth round the Sun. Earth orbits the Sun and the Moon orbits Earth, so the whole pair goes round the Sun together. That is why the Sun drifts along the zodiac behind the Moon and the phase cycle runs two days longer than the orbit.
4. Its orbit is tilted about 5 degrees (5.145 in the fact sheet) to the plane of Earth’s orbit. NASA says this tilt is what stops us having a solar and a lunar eclipse every month: the Moon usually passes a little above or below the line.

Put those together and you get the phases: the Moon laps the Sun along the zodiac about every 29.5 days, showing us a different slice of its lit half every night.

The Phase You Were Born Under

The phases are not only a sky calendar. In astrology, the angle between your natal Sun and natal Moon gives you a lunar phase at birth, and it says something about how you start things and how you finish them. Dane Rudhyar wrote the book on it, The Lunation Cycle, published in 1967, and the eight slices below are the ones Cafe Astrology uses for its natal phase readings.

You need two numbers from your chart: the zodiac degree of your Sun and of your Moon. Our free birth chart calculator shows your Sun and Moon signs, and our birth chart guide explains how to read the Big Three. Then:

1. Turn each into a 0 to 360 number. Each sign starts 30 degrees after the last: Aries 0, Taurus 30, Gemini 60, Cancer 90, Leo 120, Virgo 150, Libra 180, Scorpio 210, Sagittarius 240, Capricorn 270, Aquarius 300, Pisces 330. Add your degree within the sign.
2. Take the Moon’s number minus the Sun’s number. If the answer is negative, add 360.
3. Read the result against the eight slices.

A worked example. Say your Sun is at 15 degrees Leo and your Moon at 10 degrees Scorpio. Leo starts at 120, so the Sun is 120 plus 15, which is 135. Scorpio starts at 210, so the Moon is 210 plus 10, which is 220. Moon minus Sun is 220 minus 135, which is 85. That sits between 45 and 90, so this is a crescent phase birth.

Moon minus Sun	Birth phase	Tends toward
0 to 45	New	Instinct, fresh starts, acting before the plan is finished
45 to 90	Crescent	Effort, building something from scratch, pushing past the old
90 to 135	First quarter	Action under pressure, decisive, builds structures
135 to 180	Gibbous	Refining, analyzing, wanting to get it right
180 to 225	Full	Clarity through relationships, seeing both sides
225 to 270	Disseminating	Sharing what you know, teaching, spreading the word
270 to 315	Last quarter	Rethinking, reforming, turning away from what no longer fits
315 to 360	Balsamic	Release, endings, a sense of finishing something old

These are tendencies, not rules. Your birth phase sits alongside your Sun sign, your Moon sign and your rising sign; it does not replace them.

One thing to know so the two tables on this page never look like they disagree. Astronomy defines each main phase at its exact instant, and our live block above labels the Moon “new” from 22.5 degrees before the conjunction to 22.5 degrees after it. The natal reading instead starts each slice at the conjunction and runs 45 degrees forward, so a baby born with the Moon 30 degrees past the Sun is a new phase birth in astrology while the sky that night showed a waxing crescent. Both are right. They are two ways of cutting the same loop.

Does the Lunar Cycle Affect Humans?

How does the lunar cycle affect humans? Honestly, the research disagrees, so here are both sides.

A 2013 study in Current Biology led by Christian Cajochen found that, around the full moon, volunteers in a sleep laboratory took about 5 minutes longer to fall asleep, slept about 20 minutes less, and showed 30% less of the deep sleep brain activity the team measured, along with lower melatonin. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew during the study that lunar phase would be analyzed afterwards.

A year later, a team at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry answered in the same journal. They looked at the sleep of 1,265 volunteers over 2,097 nights and reported that they could not observe a statistically relevant correlation between human sleep and the lunar phases. They also pointed to several unpublished analyses covering more than 20,000 nights that found nothing, and suggested the earlier results might be an example of publication bias, where the studies that find something get printed and the ones that find nothing stay in the drawer. Even the 2013 authors opened their paper by noting that folklore is plentiful but a consistent link between moon cycles and human physiology had not been shown.

So that is the science: a real but small effect in one careful study, and no effect in a much bigger one. We make no medical claims here, and you should not change anything about your health because of a Moon phase.

Astrology says something different, and we think it is the more useful thing to say. In our view the phases are a rhythm, not a force. The cycle hands you a monthly shape for your attention: start something at the new moon, build it as the Moon grows, see it clearly at the full moon, then let go of what did not work as the Moon shrinks. You do not need the Moon to pull on your blood for that to be a good month.

The Phases of the Moon FAQ