Waning crescent Moon: next date, how it looks and how long it lasts
The next waning crescent Moon starts and ends . It lasts 3 days 22 hours this cycle, with the Moon shrinking from 31% to 4% lit.
The cycle
Where the waning crescent Moon sits in the cycle
- New Moon
- Waxing crescent
- First quarter
- Waxing gibbous
- Full Moon
- Waning gibbous
- Last quarter
- Waning crescentNext: , then
What a waning crescent is
- Angle east of the Sun
- 292.5° to 337.5°
- Share lit
- 31% down to 4%
- Moon age
- 24.0 to 27.7 days after new Moon
- Trend
- Shrinking each night
The last thin stretch of the cycle. The Moon is lit along one shrinking edge as it slides back toward the Sun, and a day or two after this phase ends it passes between Earth and the Sun as the new Moon.
The Moon is now less than 70 degrees short of the Sun's position, so it rises only a few hours ahead of the Sun and spends little of its time in a dark sky.
How a waning crescent looks
A thin crescent lit along its left edge in the Northern Hemisphere, with the horns pointing up and to the right, away from the Sun that is still below the eastern horizon. Each morning it is thinner and closer to the Sun.
Earthshine lights the dark part again, now on the morning side of the sky, and the old crescent in the gray light before dawn is one of the best places to see it.
What to look for. Look east about an hour before sunrise. The thinner the crescent, the lower it sits, and the last one you can spot is a sliver a day or so before new Moon.
Northern Hemisphere
Lit on the left, the edge facing the coming sunrise.
Start: 31% lit
Middle: 15% lit
End: 4% lit
Southern Hemisphere
Lit on the right, with the horns leaning up and to the left.
Start: 31% lit
Middle: 15% lit
End: 4% lit
The Moon at the start, the middle and the end of this phase; the Southern Hemisphere sees each disc upside down.
Good to know
- The first morning when no crescent can be found marks the turn toward new Moon; the evening crescent that follows begins the next cycle.
- Few people look at the sky that early, so a waning crescent is easy to miss even though it is as bright as a waxing one with the same lit share.
When to look for it
It belongs to the early morning. A waning crescent rises in the small hours, a few hours ahead of the Sun, and is lost in the Sun's glow soon after dawn. It sets in the afternoon, long after you could see it.
Early risers get the best view in the hour before sunrise. Near the end of the phase the crescent rises only an hour or so before the Sun and gets hard to find, and then it is gone until it returns as a waxing crescent in the evening.
With a 6 am sunrise and 6 pm sunset, a waning crescent typically:
- Rises around
- 2 am to 5:30 am
- Is highest around
- 8 am to 11:30 am
- Sets around
- 2 pm to 5:30 pm
The season and your latitude can move these times by an hour or two. For your own moonrise and moonset, open the moonrise and moonset page.
How long a waning crescent lasts
- Average length
- 3.69 days, an eighth of the cycle
- Next one
- 3 days 22 hours
- Shortest of the six
- 3 days 19 hours
- Longest of the six
- 4 days 4 hours
The waning crescent is the last full phase of the cycle. The exact new Moon follows roughly a day and a half to two days after it ends.
The next six, in your time zone
| Starts | Ends | Lasts |
|---|---|---|
| 3 days 22 hours | ||
| 4 days 1 hour | ||
| 4 days 4 hours | ||
| 4 days 3 hours | ||
| 4 days | ||
| 3 days 19 hours |
Questions people ask
Quick answers
What is a waning crescent Moon?
The Moon is in this phase while the angle between the Sun and the Moon runs from 292.5° to 337.5°. The share of the disc that is lit runs 31% down to 4%.
How long does the waning crescent Moon last?
The next one lasts 3 days 22 hours. Over the cycle the six non-principal phases last between about 3.4 and 4 days each.
When is the next waning crescent Moon?
The start and end dates are at the top of this page and in the table of the next six, in your time zone.
Does the waning crescent Moon look different in the Southern Hemisphere?
Yes. The same phase is the other way round: the lit side that is on the right in the north shows on the left in the south.
Can I see the waning crescent Moon in daylight?
Often, because every phase except the new Moon spends some of its time above the horizon in the day. It is easiest to spot when it stands high in a clear sky.