Waxing Gibbous Moon: Meaning, Dates and When to See It
Phase 4 of 8, lasting about a week
Gibbous means humped: the Moon is more than half lit but not yet full, bulging toward the full disc a little more each night. A waxing gibbous Moon rises in the afternoon, is well up by nightfall and sets after midnight, so it dominates the evening sky and washes out faint stars and meteors. It is the phase most people photograph as "the Moon".
Tonight the Moon is a waning gibbous. Next waxing gibbous (showing UTC):
to
- Illumination
- 51% to 99%
- Moon age
- 8 to 14 days
- Rises
- In the afternoon
- Sets
- After midnight
Where to look: most of the night, from late afternoon. Exact moonrise and moonset for your city are on the moon calendar.
Upcoming waxing gibbous dates
| From | To | Length |
|---|---|---|
| (First Quarter) | (Full Moon) | 7.5 days |
| (First Quarter) | (Full Moon) | 7.1 days |
| (First Quarter) | (Full Moon) | 6.8 days |
| (First Quarter) | (Full Moon) | 6.7 days |
| (First Quarter) | (Full Moon) | 6.6 days |
| (First Quarter) | (Full Moon) | 6.8 days |
| (First Quarter) | (Full Moon) | 7.0 days |
| (First Quarter) | (Full Moon) | 7.3 days |
The waxing gibbous runs from one principal phase to the next, so each window lasts about a week.
What the waxing gibbous looks like
Between first quarter and full moon the Moon is waxing gibbous: more than half lit and growing each night. It rises in the afternoon, dominates the evening sky and sets after midnight.
Its brightness climbs quickly during this phase, from about a tenth of full-moon brightness at first quarter to full within a week, because the Moon's rough surface reflects most strongly when the Sun is directly behind the observer.
Lore and folklore
The swelling moon was traditionally a time of increase: livestock fattened, crops filled out, and anything meant to grow was tended now. In some traditions it was the best time to gather herbs, when their vigour was thought to peak.
Gibbous comes from the Latin for hump-backed, a plain description of the bulging shape.
Trivia
- The Moon's brightness is not proportional to the lit area; a half moon is only about a tenth as bright as a full moon.
- The waxing gibbous is the phase most often noticed in daytime, high in the afternoon sky.
- Around this phase the bright crater rays, streaks of ejected rock, become obvious to the naked eye.
- The gibbous Moon rises later each day by anything from 30 to 70 minutes depending on the season.
Gardening by the Moon
The waxing half of the month, from new moon to full, is the traditional time to sow and plant crops that bear above ground. The second week favours crops that carry their seeds inside the fruit: beans, peppers, tomatoes and squash. See this month's planting calendar ›