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Tips for Moon Watching & Moon Times

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The Moon rises and sets every day, like the Sun. The Sun always rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The Moon, on the other hand, does it at a different time every day.


If you are watching the moon ...

Please note that after the full phase, the moon won't rise until after sunset and rises later each night. 

When it gets too late, get up just after sunrise and watch the moon continue east. 

When it gets close to crescent phase again, you may need to get up before sunrise to see earth shine again.



iconThe moon rises and sets at specific times, according to what phase it is in:

The new moon rises and sets at approximately the same time as the sun.

The first quarter moon rises at mid-morning and sets at midnight. So it's at its height around dusk, not in the middle of the night.

The full moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. The full moon is the only moon that will be overhead in the middle of the night.

The last quarter moon rises around midnight and sets around mid-morning. So unless you're a late-owl, you've probably never even seen this moon.


2013 Moon Phases Times
Times to nearest 5 minutes (GMT)
New Moon
2013 New Moon.
First Quarter Fulloon
2013 Full Moon.
Last Quarter
5 Jan
04:00
11 Jan
19:45
18 Jan
23:45
27 Jan
04:40
3 Feb
14:00
10 Feb
07:20
17 Feb
20:30
25 Feb
20:30
4 Mar
21:55
11 Mar
19:50
19 Mar
17:30
27 Mar
09:30
3 Apr
04:40
10 Apr
09:35
18 Apr
12:30
25 Apr
20:00
2 May
11:15
10 May
00:30
18 May
04:35
25 May
04:25
31 May
19:00
8 Jun
16:00
16 Jun
17:25
23 Jun
11:35
30 Jun
04:55
8 Jul
07:15
16 Jul
03:30
22 Jul
18:15
29 Jul
17:45
6 Aug
21:50
14 Aug
10:55
21 Aug
01:45
28 Aug
09:35
5 Sep
11:40
12 Sep
17:10
19 Sep
11:15
27 Sep
03:55
5 Oct
00:35
11 Oct
23:05
18 Oct
23:40
26 Oct
23:40
3 Nov
12:50
10 Nov
06:00
17 Nov
15:15
25 Nov
19:30
3 Dec
00:25
9 Dec
15:15
17 Dec
09:30
25 Dec
13:50
2013
Spring equinox - Mar 20 at 11.00am
Summer solstice - Jun 21 at 05.05pm
Autumn equinox - Sep 22 at 8.45pm
Winter solstice - Dec 21 at 5.10pm

Make you own Lunar Calendar
Print out the Calendar and pictures of the different phases

The image on the right shows you what you would see if you looked at the moon tonight in the Northern hemisphere.
Can you identify which phase it is?
(If it is black then it's a new moon.) 

 
Why does the Moon look dfferent in the southern hemisphere?next page
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icon moon Introduction to phases icon moon Tips for Moon watching
icon moon Shapes of the Moon icon moon Moon around the world
icon moon Time to see each phase icon moon Facts about the Moon
icon moon Moon Calendar icon moon Moon animation