First Quarter
- Rise
- 1:00 PM
- Set
- 1:39 AM
Moon Phases December 2022 in Sydney, New South Wales
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Daily moon phases, illumination, moonrise and moonset for Sydney, in local time (Australia/Sydney). Next full moon: Cold Moon on Thursday, December 8.
Sydney · Thursday, December 1, 2022 Today
First Quarter
- Illumination
- 54.9%
- Moon age
- 7.1 days
- Distance
- 375,663 km
- Moonrise
- 1:00 PM
- Moonset
- 1:39 AM
- Highest
- 7:39 PM
First Quarter at 1:36 AM. Next: Full Moon on Thu, Dec 8 at 3:08 PM. Cold Moon in 7 days.
At first quarter the Moon has completed a quarter of its orbit, and exactly half of the visible disc is lit: the right half in the northern hemisphere, the left in the southern.
Click any day in the calendar or pick a date above to see its details here.
December 2022 calendar
Waxing Gibbous
66%
- Rise
- 2:04 PM
- Set
- 2:09 AM
Waxing Gibbous
75%
- Rise
- 3:06 PM
- Set
- 2:37 AM
Waxing Gibbous
84%
- Rise
- 4:08 PM
- Set
- 3:04 AM
Waxing Gibbous
91%
- Rise
- 5:09 PM
- Set
- 3:32 AM
Waxing Gibbous
96%
- Rise
- 6:11 PM
- Set
- 4:02 AM
Waxing Gibbous
99%
- Rise
- 7:12 PM
- Set
- 4:35 AM
Cold Moon
- Rise
- 8:12 PM
- Set
- 5:13 AM
Waning Gibbous
99%
- Rise
- 9:09 PM
- Set
- 5:56 AM
Waning Gibbous
97%
- Rise
- 10:00 PM
- Set
- 6:45 AM
Waning Gibbous
92%
- Rise
- 10:46 PM
- Set
- 7:39 AM
Waning Gibbous
87%
- Rise
- 11:25 PM
- Set
- 8:36 AM
Waning Gibbous
80%
- Rise
- 11:59 PM
- Set
- 9:34 AM
Waning Gibbous
72%
- Rise
- —
- Set
- 10:32 AM
Waning Gibbous
63%
- Rise
- 12:29 AM
- Set
- 11:29 AM
Last Quarter
- Rise
- 12:56 AM
- Set
- 12:27 PM
Waning Crescent
43%
- Rise
- 1:22 AM
- Set
- 1:25 PM
Waning Crescent
34%
- Rise
- 1:48 AM
- Set
- 2:25 PM
Waning Crescent
24%
- Rise
- 2:15 AM
- Set
- 3:27 PM
Waning Crescent
15%
- Rise
- 2:45 AM
- Set
- 4:34 PM
Waning Crescent
8%
- Rise
- 3:20 AM
- Set
- 5:45 PM
Waning Crescent
3%
- Rise
- 4:02 AM
- Set
- 6:58 PM
New Moon
- Rise
- 4:54 AM
- Set
- 8:11 PM
Waxing Crescent
1%
- Rise
- 5:57 AM
- Set
- 9:17 PM
Waxing Crescent
4%
- Rise
- 7:08 AM
- Set
- 10:13 PM
Waxing Crescent
10%
- Rise
- 8:23 AM
- Set
- 11:00 PM
Waxing Crescent
19%
- Rise
- 9:38 AM
- Set
- 11:38 PM
Waxing Crescent
28%
- Rise
- 10:49 AM
- Set
- —
Waxing Crescent
39%
- Rise
- 11:56 AM
- Set
- 12:11 AM
First Quarter
- Rise
- 1:00 PM
- Set
- 12:40 AM
Waxing Gibbous
61%
- Rise
- 2:02 PM
- Set
- 1:08 AM
Times are local to Sydney (Australia/Sydney). A dash means the moon does not rise or set on that date.
Moon phases in December 2022
| Phase | Local date and time | UTC |
|---|---|---|
| First Quarter | Thu, Dec 1 at 1:36 AM | Nov 30, 14:36 |
| Full Moon · Cold Moon | Thu, Dec 8 at 3:08 PM | Dec 8, 04:08 |
| Last Quarter | Fri, Dec 16 at 7:56 PM | Dec 16, 08:56 |
| New Moon | Fri, Dec 23 at 9:16 PM | Dec 23, 10:16 |
| First Quarter | Fri, Dec 30 at 12:20 PM | Dec 30, 01:20 |
About the First Quarter
At first quarter the Moon has completed a quarter of its orbit, and exactly half of the visible disc is lit: the right half in the northern hemisphere, the left in the southern. It rises around midday, is highest at sunset and sets around midnight, which makes it the most convenient phase for evening observing.
Along the terminator, the line between light and dark, the low Sun casts long shadows that make craters and mountains stand out sharply in binoculars.
Lore and folklore
Half moons stood for balance and decision in many traditions: half light, half dark. Farmers' almanacs treated the first quarter as a strong growing time, good for planting crops that bear seed inside the fruit, such as beans, peppers and tomatoes.
Weather lore held that a sharp, clear half moon foretold fine weather, while a blurred one meant rain.
Trivia
- The name is about the orbit, not the appearance: a quarter of the way around, half of the face lit.
- The straight-looking terminator is a great circle seen edge-on.
- At first quarter the Moon is about 90 degrees east of the Sun, which is why it is high overhead as the Sun goes down.
- The Apollo landing sites are easiest to study near the terminator, when shadows reveal the terrain.
Select any day in the calendar to read about its phase.
This month's full moon: the Cold Moon
The December full moon, when winter cold takes hold and nights are longest.
The Long Night Moon, for the night nearest the winter solstice, and the Moon before Yule are older names. It is the highest-riding full moon of the year in the northern hemisphere, opposite the low December sun.
Lore
December's moon comes with the deepest cold and the longest nights, hence the Cold Moon and Long Night Moon. In Anglo-Saxon tradition it was the Moon before Yule, and its light on snow made the long nights unusually bright.
Trivia
- The Cold Moon rides highest of all full moons in the northern hemisphere, opposite the low solstice Sun.
- Around the December solstice the full moon is above the horizon for more than 15 hours at 50 degrees north.
- The Cold Moon is usually the last full moon of the year, but some years a thirteenth follows it as a Blue Moon.
Gardening by the Moon in December 2022
- Dec 1 to Dec 7 · Fruiting crops: Sow above-ground crops whose seeds form inside the fruit: beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons. Graft, repot and sow lawns.
- Dec 8 to Dec 15 · Root crops: Plant root crops and anything that overwinters: carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, bulbs, perennials, trees and shrubs. Prune to slow growth.
- Dec 16 to Dec 22 · Rest and tend: Rest days for the soil: weed, cultivate, turn compost, harvest crops for storage, prune to discourage regrowth, prepare beds. Avoid sowing.
- Dec 23 to Dec 29 · Leafy crops: Sow leafy crops and above-ground annuals whose seeds form outside the fruit: lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, celery, herbs. Transplant seedlings. Mow to encourage growth.
- Dec 30 to Dec 31 · Fruiting crops: Sow above-ground crops whose seeds form inside the fruit: beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons. Graft, repot and sow lawns.
Full planting calendar for December › · How gardening by the moon works
How to read this moon calendar
Each day shows the Moon as it looks from Sydney at midday local time, with the illuminated percentage, moonrise and moonset. Days with a principal phase show the exact local time the phase occurs. Because the Moon moves about 50 minutes later each day, roughly once a month there is a date with no moonrise or no moonset at all.
From the southern hemisphere the Moon appears flipped: a waxing moon is lit on the left. The icons on this page follow that view.
The eight phases of the Moon
New Moon
The Moon sits between Earth and the Sun. Its lit side faces away from us, so it is invisible in the night sky. A new lunar month begins.
Waxing Crescent
A thin sliver grows each evening after sunset. Look low in the west shortly after dusk.
First Quarter
Half the disc is lit. The Moon rises around midday and sets around midnight, so it is high in the sky at sunset.
Waxing Gibbous
More than half lit and growing. It rises in the afternoon and shines most of the night.
Full Moon
The whole face is lit. It rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. Each full moon carries a traditional name.
Waning Gibbous
The lit portion shrinks. It rises after sunset and is still up in the morning sky.
Last Quarter
Half lit again, on the opposite side. It rises around midnight and is best seen in the early morning.
Waning Crescent
A thinning sliver before dawn in the east, fading toward the next new moon.