Moonrise and moonset times are the moments the Moon’s upper edge appears above and disappears below a flat horizon at your location, shown above for today and the next 7 days. On average the Moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, so over a 29.5-day lunar cycle moonrise moves through every hour of the clock.
How are moonrise and moonset defined?
Moonrise is the moment the upper edge, or limb, of the Moon touches a level, unobstructed horizon, and moonset is the moment the upper limb drops below it, both corrected for atmospheric refraction.
The U.S. Naval Observatory uses this definition with a standard refraction of 34 arcminutes, slightly more than the Moon’s apparent width. The atmosphere bends light from objects near the horizon upward, so the Moon appears above the horizon before it would without air. The engine behind this site, Astronomy Engine, uses the same upper-limb rule and the same 34-arcminute value, calculated for an observer at sea level.
The same calculation feeds the rise and set times on the live moon phase today page. Your own horizon is rarely perfect: a hill, tree line or building to the east delays the moment you actually see the Moon, and a high viewpoint brings it a little earlier.
What time does the Moon rise in each phase?
Moonrise follows the phase: a new moon rises around sunrise, a first quarter moon around noon, a full moon around sunset and a last quarter moon around midnight. Each phase sets roughly 12 hours after it rises.
| Phase | Moonrise | Moonset | When it is in the sky |
|---|---|---|---|
| New moon | Around sunrise | Around sunset | Daytime, lost in the Sun’s glare |
| Waxing crescent | Mid-morning | Mid-evening | Afternoon and early evening |
| First quarter | Around noon | Around midnight | Afternoon and the first half of the night |
| Waxing gibbous | Mid-afternoon | Before dawn | Late afternoon and most of the night |
| Full moon | Around sunset | Around sunrise | All night |
| Waning gibbous | Mid-evening | Mid-morning | Most of the night and early morning |
| Last quarter | Around midnight | Around noon | Second half of the night and the morning |
| Waning crescent | Before dawn | Mid-afternoon | Early morning and morning daylight |
The table also explains why the Moon so often appears in daylight: most phases spend part of their time above the horizon while the Sun is up, which is why you can see the moon during the day. The guide to the phases of the moon describes each phase, and the moon phase calendar shows which phase falls on each date, so you can estimate moonrise weeks ahead. The next full moon is the easiest to plan around, because it rises around sunset.
Why does the Moon rise about 50 minutes later each day?
The Moon moves about 13.2° east along its orbit each day, in the same direction Earth spins, so Earth has to turn for about 50 extra minutes before your horizon catches up with the Moon.
That extra turn makes the lunar day, from one moonrise to the next, about 24 hours and 50 minutes long on average. The delay is not constant: at mid-latitudes it ranges from about 30 to 70 minutes, depending on the angle of the Moon’s path to the horizon. Around the Harvest Moon, the full moon nearest the September equinox, the delay can shrink to about 20–30 minutes for several evenings in a row.
The full explanation, with a worked example of where the 50 minutes come from, is in the article on why the moon rises later each day.
Why are there days without a moonrise or moonset?
Because the lunar day lasts about 24 hours and 50 minutes, moonrise slips past midnight once in each lunar cycle and skips a calendar date entirely; moonset does the same about two weeks later.
For example, if the Moon rises at 11:40 p.m. on a Monday, the next moonrise comes about 24 hours and 50 minutes later, at around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Tuesday has no moonrise at all. A day without a moonrise or moonset is normal, not a missing value.
Where on the horizon does the Moon rise and set?
The Moon always rises in the eastern half of the horizon and sets in the western half, but rarely due east or due west. Over each 27.3-day orbit the rising point swings between the northeast and the southeast and back.
The swing follows the Moon’s declination. When the Moon is north of the celestial equator it rises north of east and sets north of west, as seen from either hemisphere; when it is south of the equator it rises and sets south of east and west. A full moon sits opposite the Sun, so as seen from the Northern Hemisphere a winter full moon rises well to the northeast and a summer full moon rises in the southeast.
The swing is widest in years near a major lunar standstill, when the Moon’s declination reaches 28.6° north and south, and it grows with latitude. Photographers who want a rising Moon behind a particular landmark use this to plan where to stand.
How does latitude change moonrise and moonset?
Latitude changes how steeply the Moon’s path meets the horizon. Near the equator the Moon rises almost straight up and the daily delay stays close to the average; at higher latitudes the Moon rises at a slant and the delay swings more widely.
At mid-latitudes the slant also changes how long the Moon stays up. When the Moon is far north of the celestial equator, observers in the Northern Hemisphere see it for more than 12 hours, rising in the northeast and setting in the northwest. When it is far south, it stays up for less than 12 hours on a short, low arc.
When the Moon stays up or down for days
At high latitudes the Moon can stay above the horizon for days and then stay below it, a monthly version of the midnight sun and polar night. The Moon cannot set when its declination, its angle north or south of the celestial equator, is greater than 90° minus your latitude.
The Moon’s monthly swing in declination reaches between 18.3° and 28.6° depending on where it is in an 18.6-year cycle. Above about 72° latitude, as in Svalbard, the Moon therefore circles the sky without setting for several days every month, then stays below the horizon for a similar stretch about two weeks later. In years near a major lunar standstill, most recently around December 2024, the same happens down to about 61.5°.
The full moon follows the same rule in reverse to the Sun. Above the Arctic Circle the midwinter full moon can circle the sky without setting, while the midsummer full moon may not rise at all.
What is the Moon’s highest point?
The highest point, also called transit or culmination, is the moment the Moon crosses your meridian: due south from mid-northern latitudes, due north from mid-southern latitudes, roughly halfway between moonrise and moonset.
The Moon’s height at that moment equals 90° minus the difference between your latitude and the Moon’s declination. At latitude 40°N, that ranges from about 21° to about 79° in years near a major standstill: low for a midsummer full moon, high for a midwinter one.
The highest point is usually the best time to look, because the Moon’s light then passes through the least air and details look sharpest. For an evening plan with the direction and height of the Moon hour by hour, see the Moon tonight.
Why does the Moon look bigger near the horizon?
The Moon looks bigger near the horizon because of the moon illusion, a trick of perception, not of optics. Its measured size does not grow; the Moon is actually about 1.5% farther from you on the horizon than high in the sky, because you are then about one Earth radius farther from it.
A pebble held at arm’s length covers the rising Moon just as it covers the Moon high overhead, and photographs show the same size at both heights. The color change is real, though: near the horizon the Moon’s light passes through much more air, which scatters away blue light and leaves the Moon looking yellow or orange.
How can you use moonrise times to plan?
Moonrise and moonset times tell you when the Moon will light the landscape, when it will brighten the sky, and when you will have darkness without it.
- Photographing a rising full moon: the evening before full, the Moon rises shortly before sunset, so it clears the horizon while the landscape is still lit by the Sun.
- Dark-sky sessions: in the waxing half of the cycle the sky is moon-free after moonset; in the waning half it is moon-free before moonrise.
- Night walks and outdoor events: around full moon the Moon is up from dusk to dawn, while a waning Moon may not rise until late at night.
- Your own horizon: add a few minutes to moonrise, and subtract a few from moonset, if hills or buildings block the view in that direction.
Moonrise and moonset in major cities
The city pages give today’s moonrise and moonset for one city each, useful when you are planning for somewhere other than where you are now. The links below cover major cities, and the table above lists more than 150.