Waning gibbous Moon: next date, how it looks and how long it lasts
The next waning gibbous Moon starts and ends . It lasts 3 days 7 hours this cycle, with the Moon shrinking from 96% to 69% lit.
The cycle
Where the waning gibbous Moon sits in the cycle
- New Moon
- Waxing crescent
- First quarter
- Waxing gibbous
- Full Moon
- Waning gibbousNext: , then
- Last quarter
- Waning crescent
What a waning gibbous is
- Angle east of the Sun
- 202.5° to 247.5°
- Share lit
- 96% down to 69%
- Moon age
- 16.6 to 20.3 days after new Moon
- Trend
- Shrinking each night
The Moon has just passed full and started to shrink. Waning gibbous is the first week of that decline: still more than half lit, but a little less each night, with the shadowed part growing along one edge.
In its orbit the Moon has passed the point opposite the Sun and is heading back toward the Sun's side of the sky. About 157 to 112 degrees of orbit remain before the next new Moon.
How a waning gibbous looks
An egg-shaped Moon lit on the left in the Northern Hemisphere, with a dark bite on the right edge that widens each night.
Sunlight now crosses the surface the other way. Craters along the edge that held sunrise shadows two weeks earlier now carry sunset shadows, and the same features look different from the waxing gibbous.
What to look for. Watch the dark bite on the right: craters that sat in daylight a week earlier slip into shadow, one night at a time.
Northern Hemisphere
Lit on the left, with the dark bite on the right.
Start: 96% lit
Middle: 85% lit
End: 69% lit
Southern Hemisphere
Lit on the right, with the dark bite on the left.
Start: 96% lit
Middle: 85% lit
End: 69% 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
- Moonrise slips later by about 50 minutes a night on average, but anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour depending on the season and your latitude.
- A waning and a waxing gibbous can be equally lit. The lit side tells them apart, and so does the clock: one is an evening Moon, the other a morning Moon.
When a waning gibbous is up
A waning gibbous Moon rises after dark, a couple of hours after sunset at first and later each night. It stays up the rest of the night and is still in the sky after sunrise, pale and large over the western horizon.
That makes it the Moon of late evenings and mornings: the one you notice on the drive to work, hanging low in a sky that is already bright.
Assuming a 6 am sunrise and 6 pm sunset, a waning gibbous Moon typically:
- Rises around
- 8 pm to 11 pm
- Is highest around
- 2 am to 5 am
- Sets around
- 8 am to 11 am
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 gibbous lasts
- Average length
- 3.69 days, an eighth of the cycle
- Next one
- 3 days 7 hours
- Shortest of the six
- 3 days 7 hours
- Longest of the six
- 3 days 23 hours
The phase begins 22.5 degrees after the exact full Moon and spans 45 degrees, the same width as the waxing gibbous before full. Any difference in length between the two within one month comes from the Moon's changing speed.
The next six, in your time zone
| Starts | Ends | Lasts |
|---|---|---|
| 3 days 7 hours | ||
| 3 days 8 hours | ||
| 3 days 11 hours | ||
| 3 days 15 hours | ||
| 3 days 19 hours | ||
| 3 days 23 hours |
Questions people ask
Quick answers
What is a waning gibbous Moon?
The Moon is in this phase while the angle between the Sun and the Moon runs from 202.5° to 247.5°. The share of the disc that is lit runs 96% down to 69%.
How long does the waning gibbous Moon last?
The next one lasts 3 days 7 hours. Over the cycle the six non-principal phases last between about 3.4 and 4 days each.
When is the next waning gibbous 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 gibbous 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 gibbous 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.