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Waning Gibbous on 01/18/2017
January 18
Waning Gibbous
64%
Last Quarter on 01/19/2017
January 19
Last Quarter
54%
Waning Crescent on 01/20/2017
January 20
Waning Crescent
Illumination: 45%
Waning Crescent on 01/21/2017
January 21
Waning Crescent
35%
Waning Crescent on 01/22/2017
January 22
Waning Crescent
27%

Moon Phase: January 20, 2017

On this day the Moon was in a Waning Crescent phase. This phase is best viewed just before the sunrise in the western sky. In this phase the Moon’s illumination is growing smaller each day until the New Moon. During this part of the Moon cycle, the Moon is getting closer to the Sun as viewed from Earth and the night side of the Moon is facing the Earth with only a small edge of the Moon being illuminated. It can also be a great time to see the features of the Moon's surface. Along the edge where the illuminated portion meets the dark side, the craters and mountains cast long shadows making them easier to observe with a telescope or binoculars.

Visit the January 2017 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Waning Crescent Phase

The Waning Crescent on January 20 has an illumination of 45%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On January 20 the Moon is 22.65 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.

The 8 Lunar Phases

There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.

TODAY'S MOON PHASEtodays moon

Phase Details for - January 20

Phase: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 45%
Moon Age: 22.65 days
Moon Angle: 0.49
Moon Distance: 404,046.82 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,216,686.41 km

Useful Moon Resources


Waning Crescent Moonrise and Moonset

WanC_45. WanC_45 WanC_45 moon rise
moon rise up average moon rise
moon rise up Average Mid-phase
moon rise up Average Moon Set