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New Moon on 12/18/2017
December 18
New Moon
0%
Waxing Crescent on 12/19/2017
December 19
Waxing Crescent
1%
Waxing Crescent on 12/20/2017
December 20
Waxing Crescent
Illumination: 4%
Waxing Crescent on 12/21/2017
December 21
Waxing Crescent
9%
Waxing Crescent on 12/22/2017
December 22
Waxing Crescent
15%

Moon Phase: December 20, 2017

On this day the Moon was in a Waxing Crescent Phase. Best seen in the west after the sun dips below the horizon at sunset. This is the first Phase after the New Moon and is a great time to see the features of the moon's surface. The moon is close to the sun in the sky and mostly dark except for the right edge of the moon which becomes brighter as the days get closer to the next phase which is a First Quarter with a 50% illumination.

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

Waxing Crescent Phase

The Waxing Crescent on December 20 has an illumination of 4%. 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 December 20 the Moon is 1.97 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 - December 20

Phase: Waxing Crescent
Illumination: 4%
Moon Age: 1.97 days
Moon Angle: 0.49
Moon Distance: 404,378.32 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,167,141.97 km

Useful Moon Resources


Waxing Crescent Moonrise and Moonset

WaxC_0. WaxC_0 WaxC_0 moon rise
moon rise up average moon rise
moon rise up Average Mid-phase
moon rise up Average Moon Set