Moon Phase Software

Tools & method

Moon Phase Calculator for an exact date and time

Enter a local civil date, 24-hour time, and IANA time zone. The tool converts that instant to UTC and calculates the Moon's geocentric phase angle, illuminated fraction, lunar age, direction, and adjacent principal events.

Calculation input




Use an IANA name so historical daylight-saving rules are applied. The default is UTC.

Calculated Moon state

Schematic Moon phase: waxing, 99.37% illuminated at a phase angle of 171.98 degrees. This represents illuminated fraction only, not sky orientation or observer hemisphere.
Schematic illumination only — not sky orientation or observer hemisphere.
Phase
Full Moon
Illuminated fraction
99.37%
Lunar age
14.464 days
Direction
waxing
Nearest principal event
Full Moon, next, 0 days, 13 hours, 29 minutes away
Phase angle
171.9753°
Selected instant in Europe/London
2026-12-23T12:00+00:00[Europe/London]
UTC instant
2026-12-23T12:00:00.000Z
Show every previous and next principal phase
Previous and next event for each principal phase
EventPrevious in Europe/LondonPrevious UTCNext in Europe/LondonNext UTC
New MoonWednesday, 9 December 2026 at 00:52:31 GMT2026-12-09T00:52:31.284ZThursday, 7 January 2027 at 20:25:05 GMT2027-01-07T20:25:05.910Z
First QuarterThursday, 17 December 2026 at 05:43:14 GMT2026-12-17T05:43:14.883ZFriday, 15 January 2027 at 20:35:05 GMT2027-01-15T20:35:05.099Z
Full MoonTuesday, 24 November 2026 at 14:54:04 GMT2026-11-24T14:54:04.191ZThursday, 24 December 2026 at 01:28:45 GMT2026-12-24T01:28:45.040Z
Last QuarterTuesday, 1 December 2026 at 06:09:14 GMT2026-12-01T06:09:14.538ZWednesday, 30 December 2026 at 19:00:07 GMT2026-12-30T19:00:07.341Z

How to read the result

Phase angle is the Moon's geocentric ecliptic longitude relative to the Sun: 0° is new Moon, 90° first quarter, 180° full Moon, and 270° last quarter. Lunar age is the elapsed UTC time since the strictly preceding calculated new Moon; it is not the time since an observed local moonrise.

Principal event times are instants and therefore do not change when the display time zone changes. Only their local representation changes.

Scope and limitations

See the phase calculation methods and astronomical sources. For the same exact instant, calculate Moon distance and apparent size, or add an observer location in the Moon Position Calculator. The Lunar Eclipse Finder searches global events before and after a selected time.