A month or full-year calendar showing the Moon's phase for every day, with illumination percentage, the exact dates and times of new, quarter and full moons, and a southern hemisphere view. Print it in one click.
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Moon phases
Full moon New moon Quarter moon Today
Main moon phases
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How to use the Moon Phase Calendar
Pick a month and year, or use the arrows. The calendar opens on the current month.
Choose your hemisphere so the lit side of each moon matches what you see in the sky.
Read each day: the icon and percentage show the Moon at local noon; days with a main phase list its exact time.
Switch to Whole year to see all twelve months and a list of every full and new moon in the year. Click a month name to open it.
Press Print calendar to print only the calendar, or save it as a PDF from the print dialog.
The eight moon phases
The Moon goes through one full cycle of phases every synodic month, which averages 29.53 days (29 d 12 h 44 min), but a single cycle can be up to about 7 hours shorter or 6 hours longer because the Moon's orbit is elliptical. The four main phases are exact instants; the four in-between phases are periods of several days.
Phase
Moon age (approx.)
Illuminated
When it is visible
New Moon
0 days
0%
Not visible; rises and sets with the Sun
Waxing Crescent
1–6 days
1–49%
Western sky after sunset
First Quarter
≈ 7.4 days
50%
High at sunset, sets around midnight
Waxing Gibbous
8–14 days
51–99%
Afternoon and most of the night
Full Moon
≈ 14.8 days
100%
All night, rises at sunset
Waning Gibbous
15–21 days
99–51%
Late evening to morning
Last Quarter
≈ 22.1 days
50%
Rises around midnight, visible in the morning
Waning Crescent
23–29 days
49–1%
Eastern sky before sunrise
Northern vs southern hemisphere
Everyone on Earth sees the same phase on the same date, but the picture is mirrored. In the northern hemisphere a waxing Moon is lit on the right ("D" shape, growing) and a waning Moon on the left ("C" shape). In the southern hemisphere it is the other way round, and near the equator the crescent looks more like a bowl lying on its back. The hemisphere switch flips every icon accordingly; dates, times and percentages do not change.
Full moon names
Month
Traditional name
Month
Traditional name
January
Wolf Moon
July
Buck Moon
February
Snow Moon
August
Sturgeon Moon
March
Worm Moon
September
Corn Moon or Harvest Moon
April
Pink Moon
October
Hunter's Moon (or Harvest Moon)
May
Flower Moon
November
Beaver Moon
June
Strawberry Moon
December
Cold Moon
These popular names come from North American and European folk traditions published in farmers' almanacs. The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the September equinox, so it falls in October in some years. A Blue Moon (in the calendar sense) is the second full moon in one calendar month, which happens roughly every two and a half years.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate are the moon phase dates and times?
Phases are calculated with the algorithms in Jean Meeus' Astronomical Algorithms, which give new, quarter and full moon times to within about a minute of published almanac values. Times are shown in your device's time zone, so a full moon late in the evening in New York can fall on the next date in Europe.
What does the illumination percentage mean?
It is the fraction of the Moon's visible disc that is lit by the Sun, calculated for local noon on that day. It is 0% at new moon, 50% at the quarters and 100% at full moon. Because the Moon moves quickly, the value can change by up to about 12 percentage points in a day around the quarters.
Why are the moon icons different for the southern hemisphere?
Observers south of the equator see the Moon upside down compared with northern observers, so the lit side is mirrored: a waxing Moon is lit on the left instead of the right. The phase, illumination and dates are identical worldwide.
How many full moons are there in a year?
Usually 12, but about every two and a half to three years there are 13, because 12 lunar cycles last about 354 days, 11 days shorter than a calendar year. The extra full moon creates a Blue Moon.
What is a Blue Moon?
In this calendar a Blue Moon is the second full moon in a single calendar month, the popular modern definition. An older almanac definition calls the third of four full moons in an astronomical season a Blue Moon. Neither has anything to do with the Moon's color.
Can I print a moon calendar for the whole year?
Yes. Choose Whole year and press Print calendar. Only the calendar and the list of full and new moons are printed. Use landscape orientation for the month view and portrait for the year view, or choose Save as PDF in the print dialog to keep a file.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
Yes! Every tool on our site undergoes automated Q/A testing in real browser environments to ensure high precision, correct output, and zero errors. If you happen to spot a bug or have a suggestion, please contact us at [email protected] and our team will review it right away.