The Moon is now a little further into its Waxing Crescent phase, with a small amount of its surface illuminated by the Sun. It should be slightly easier to spot tonight, although there’s still not much to see in the way of lunar features.
What is today’s Moon phase?
As of Wednesday, Nov. 11, the NASA’s Daily Moon Guide tracker tells us the Moon is in the Waxing Crescent phase, with 4% of its surface visible.
When is the next Full Moon?
The next Full Moon will take place on November 24.
What are Moon phases?
The Moon takes approximately 29.5 days to complete one full cycle. As it orbits Earth, the amount of sunlight reflecting off its surface that we can see changes, creating the different phases. This takes us from the New Moon to the Full Moon and back again, before the cycle begins once more, according to NASA.
The eight phases are:
New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).
Mashable Light Speed
Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).
First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.
Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.
Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.
Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)
Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.
Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.
