Moon Phases 2027: Month-by-Month Calendar

The Moon goes through 49 main phases in 2027: 13 new moons and 12 each of first quarters, full moons and last quarters. The year starts with a new moon on Thursday, January 7, at 3:24 p.m. Eastern Time (20:24 GMT) and ends with one on Monday, December 27. Every phase is listed below by season, with times for the US and the UK.

How to read this calendar

Each row is the exact moment of a phase, as computed by the U.S. Naval Observatory and checked against the tables of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The two sources agree on every date and differ by no more than a minute.

The first column of times is US Eastern Time: EST until March 14 and from November 7, EDT in between. For Central Time subtract one hour, for Mountain Time two and for Pacific Time three. The second column is UK time: GMT in winter and BST from March 28 to October 31.

A phase is a single instant worldwide, so a late-evening time in the US is often the next calendar day in Britain. Where the two columns show different dates, both are correct.

Moon phases January to March 2027

The new moon of February 6 marks Chinese New Year 2027 and brings an annular solar eclipse over South America and the Atlantic. The full moon of February 20 passes through the outer edge of Earth's shadow in a faint penumbral lunar eclipse.

Moon phases April to June 2027

The full moon of May 20 is a seasonal Blue Moon, the third of four full moons between the March equinox and the June solstice. Why it gets that name is explained on our full moon names page.

Moon phases July to September 2027

August has two new moons. The first, on August 2, produces the total solar eclipse of August 2, 2027, seen across Spain, North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The full moon of September 15 is the Harvest Moon, the one closest to the September equinox.

Moon phases October to December 2027

The year's last full moon is on December 13, and the last new moon on December 27 leaves the final nights of 2027 dark.

What are the four main phases of the Moon?

The Sun always lights half of the Moon. The phases come from the Moon's orbit around Earth, which changes how much of that lit half we can see. NASA counts eight phases in a cycle; the four in this calendar are the turning points.

• New Moon. The Moon is between Earth and the Sun, with its lit side turned away from us. It rises and sets with the Sun and cannot be seen. See the new moons of 2027.
• First Quarter. A quarter of the way around its orbit, the Moon shows half of its lit side. It rises around midday, stands high in the evening sky and sets around the middle of the night.
• Full Moon. The Moon is opposite the Sun, and its whole lit side faces Earth. It rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. See the full moon calendar for 2027.
• Last Quarter. Also called the third quarter. Half of the lit side is visible again, but the opposite half from the first quarter. It rises around the middle of the night and sets around midday, so it is a morning Moon.

Between these come the in-between phases: the waxing crescent and waxing gibbous while the lit part grows, and the waning gibbous and waning crescent while it shrinks.

How long is a lunar cycle?

The phases repeat every 29.5 days. The Moon needs only 27.3 days to circle Earth once, but in that time Earth has moved along its own orbit around the Sun, and the Moon has to travel a little farther to line up with the Sun again.

The phases are not evenly spaced, because the Moon's speed along its orbit varies. The 2027 tables show it. From the first quarter on February 14 to the full moon on February 20 is less than seven days, while from the full moon on July 18 to the last quarter on July 26 is a little over eight.

Because 12 cycles take about 354 days, the phases fall roughly 11 days earlier each year, and a 13th new moon or full moon fits into some years. In 2027 the extra phase is a new moon.