New moon on December 4, full moon on December 18.
Today Friday, October 23, 2026
Waxing gibbous
92.0% illuminated
- Since new moon
- 12 days, 23 hours
- Next main phase
- Full moon: Monday, October 26 at 12:11 AM
As of 11:24 AM, Eastern Time
Main phases of December 2021
- New moon
- First quarter
- Full moon
- Last quarter
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, December 1, 2021, Waning crescent, 7.4% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Thursday, December 2, 2021, Waning crescent, 2.3% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Friday, December 3, 2021, Waning crescent, 0.1% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Saturday, December 4, 2021, New moon, 0.9% illuminatedTradition: Rest | Sunday, December 5, 2021, Waxing crescent, 4.8% illuminatedTradition: Grow | ||
| Monday, December 6, 2021, Waxing crescent, 11.2% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Tuesday, December 7, 2021, Waxing crescent, 19.6% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Wednesday, December 8, 2021, Waxing crescent, 29.4% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Thursday, December 9, 2021, Waxing crescent, 39.8% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Friday, December 10, 2021, First quarter, 50.3% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Saturday, December 11, 2021, Waxing gibbous, 60.5% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Sunday, December 12, 2021, Waxing gibbous, 69.9% illuminatedTradition: Grow |
| Monday, December 13, 2021, Waxing gibbous, 78.4% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Tuesday, December 14, 2021, Waxing gibbous, 85.8% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Wednesday, December 15, 2021, Waxing gibbous, 91.7% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Thursday, December 16, 2021, Waxing gibbous, 96.1% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Friday, December 17, 2021, Waxing gibbous, 98.9% illuminatedTradition: Grow | Saturday, December 18, 2021, Full moon, 100.0% illuminatedTradition: Thick | Sunday, December 19, 2021, Waning gibbous, 99.2% illuminatedTradition: Keep |
| Monday, December 20, 2021, Waning gibbous, 96.7% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Tuesday, December 21, 2021, Waning gibbous, 92.5% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Wednesday, December 22, 2021, Waning gibbous, 86.6% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Thursday, December 23, 2021, Waning gibbous, 79.2% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Friday, December 24, 2021, Waning gibbous, 70.5% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Saturday, December 25, 2021, Waning gibbous, 60.8% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Sunday, December 26, 2021, Last quarter, 50.3% illuminatedTradition: Keep |
| Monday, December 27, 2021, Waning crescent, 39.5% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Tuesday, December 28, 2021, Waning crescent, 28.8% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Wednesday, December 29, 2021, Waning crescent, 19.0% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Thursday, December 30, 2021, Waning crescent, 10.6% illuminatedTradition: Keep | Friday, December 31, 2021, Waning crescent, 4.3% illuminatedTradition: Keep |
Each day shows the moon at 9 pm Eastern Time. The percentage is how much of the Moon is lit by the Sun.
December 2021 full moon
- Full moon
- Earth–Moon distance
- 405,924 km
The Moon is farther than average: this full moon looks a little smaller.
Tradition: Cold Moon
Next supermoon: Tuesday, November 24 at 9:53 AM, in 32 days.
Supermoon: at the moment of full moon, the Moon’s distance from Earth is within the closest tenth of the range between that orbit’s perigee (nearest point) and apogee (farthest point). The definition is Richard Nolle’s (1979); there is no single official one, and this calendar uses that threshold.
The thin ring is a full moon at average distance; the disc is this full moon at its true apparent size.
A North American folk name, as listed by the Old Farmer’s Almanac. It names the moon; it is not sky data.
Subscribe in your calendar
New moons, full moons and supermoons, meteor showers, solstices and Mercury’s stations for the next 12 months, in your phone’s calendar; it updates on its own. No personal data: everyone gets the same calendar.
iPhone, iPad, Mac and Outlook open the link directly.
Google Calendar opens on a computer: + next to “Other calendars” → “From URL” → paste the address below. It then shows up on your phone.
- Calendar address
https://cloudomen.com/en/moon-phase-calendar/calendar.ics
Android: the Google Calendar app can’t subscribe by address itself; add it once from a computer, or download the file (it is added once and does not update).
Moonlight and sky watching
0–25%
Dark night
The Moon is thin or gone. Stars and the Milky Way are at their brightest; night clouds only show up in the glow of city lights. The best nights for photographing the night sky.
25–75%
Half light
A half moon hangs in the evening or morning sky. Cloud edges turn silver in its light; faint stars fade, but the sky still feels deep.
75–100%Tonight
Moonlight
The Moon is up for most of the night. Clouds keep their shapes even after dark; thin, high cloud can show a halo around the Moon. Faint stars and the Milky Way wash out in the moonlight.
Hair cutting days for December 2021
This part isn’t sky data: it’s a tradition handed down through the generations, with no scientific basis. For the curious, by the phase of the Moon.
- December 1–3KeepWaning moon: in the tradition, chosen when you want a cut to keep its shape longer.
- December 4RestNew moon: in the tradition, a day to put the scissors down.
- December 5–17GrowWaxing moon: in the tradition, chosen when you want your hair to grow faster.
- December 18ThickFull moon: in the tradition, chosen for thicker hair.
- December 19–31KeepWaning moon: in the tradition, chosen when you want a cut to keep its shape longer.
How we calculate
The Moon’s phase and lit fraction come from the method in Jean Meeus’s Astronomical Algorithms; the moon in the CloudOmen app uses the same calculation.
Each day of the calendar shows the moon at 9 pm Eastern Time (New York). New moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter are moments: the day a moment falls on takes the name of that phase, and its time is in the list above.
The image comes from the Moon map made by NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio: the face we see from Earth, lit for the phase. The dark part is left faint so you can still make out the whole Moon.
Questions
- When is the next full moon?
- This month’s full moon and the other main phases are in the list above, with day and time. The “Next main phase” line at the top of the page shows the next one coming up.
- Is the moon phase different in other countries?
- The phase is the same all over the world at the same moment; what changes is the local date and time. A main phase close to midnight can land on different days in two countries. This calendar uses Eastern Time.
- What does the percentage mean?
- It’s the share of the disc we see from Earth that is lit by the Sun. It nears zero at new moon and a hundred at full moon. It isn’t a forecast or a hit rate.
- What is a supermoon, and when is the next one?
- A full moon that happens with the Moon near perigee, the closest point of its orbit: it looks slightly larger and brighter. The supermoons of 2026 fall on January 3, November 24 and December 24. The full moon block on this page shows the next one and the days left.
- Which moon phase is chosen for cutting hair?
- In folk tradition, hair cut while the moon is waxing is said to grow back faster, and a cut made while it wanes is said to last longer; the full moon is chosen for thicker hair, and the new moon is a day off from cutting. It’s a tradition, not sky data, and it has no scientific basis. This month’s dates are in the “hair cutting days” part of this page.