All dates and times in UTC
Moon phases and dark nights for aurora watching in 2026
Moonlight brightens the whole sky. Around full moon it washes out faint aurora, so you only see the brighter displays. A strong aurora is still easy to see under a full moon, and moonlight can even make nice photos with lit-up landscapes. For faint, everyday aurora the best weeks are the ones around new moon, when the sky is darkest.
Moon calendar 2026
Each day shows the Moon's phase and how much of it is lit during the night that starts that evening (18:00–06:00 UTC). Highlighted days are dark nights: the Moon is less than 25% lit all night.
- Dark night (Moon under 25% lit)
- Today
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 98% Waxing gibbous | 2 100% Waxing gibbous | 3 100% Full moon | 4 97% Waning gibbous | |||
| 5 93% Waning gibbous | 6 86% Waning gibbous | 7 78% Waning gibbous | 8 69% Waning gibbous | 9 59% Waning gibbous | 10 49% Last quarter | 11 40% Waning crescent |
| 12 31% Waning crescent | 13 22% Waning crescent, dark night | 14 15% Waning crescent, dark night | 15 9% Waning crescent, dark night | 16 4% Waning crescent, dark night | 17 1% Waning crescent, dark night | 18 0% New moon, dark night |
| 19 2% Waxing crescent, dark night | 20 6% Waxing crescent, dark night | 21 12% Waxing crescent, dark night | 22 20% Waxing crescent, dark night | 23 29% Waxing crescent | 24 40% Waxing crescent | 25 51% Waxing crescent |
| 26 62% First quarter | 27 73% Waxing gibbous | 28 82% Waxing gibbous | 29 90% Waxing gibbous | 30 96% Waxing gibbous | 31 99% Waxing gibbous |
- Full moon
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 100% Full moon | ||||||
| 2 99% Waning gibbous | 3 96% Waning gibbous | 4 91% Waning gibbous | 5 84% Waning gibbous | 6 76% Waning gibbous | 7 67% Waning gibbous | 8 58% Waning gibbous |
| 9 48% Last quarter | 10 39% Waning crescent | 11 30% Waning crescent | 12 21% Waning crescent, dark night | 13 14% Waning crescent, dark night | 14 8% Waning crescent, dark night | 15 3% Waning crescent, dark night |
| 16 1% Waning crescent, dark night | 17 1% New moon, dark night | 18 4% Waxing crescent, dark night | 19 9% Waxing crescent, dark night | 20 16% Waxing crescent, dark night | 21 25% Waxing crescent | 22 36% Waxing crescent |
| 23 47% Waxing crescent | 24 58% First quarter | 25 69% Waxing gibbous | 26 79% Waxing gibbous | 27 88% Waxing gibbous | 28 94% Waxing gibbous |
- Full moon
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 98% Waxing gibbous | ||||||
| 2 100% Waxing gibbous | 3 100% Full moon | 4 98% Waning gibbous | 5 94% Waning gibbous | 6 89% Waning gibbous | 7 82% Waning gibbous | 8 74% Waning gibbous |
| 9 65% Waning gibbous | 10 56% Waning gibbous | 11 47% Last quarter | 12 37% Waning crescent | 13 28% Waning crescent | 14 20% Waning crescent, dark night | 15 12% Waning crescent, dark night |
| 16 6% Waning crescent, dark night | 17 2% Waning crescent, dark night | 18 0% Waning crescent, dark night | 19 2% New moon, dark night | 20 6% Waxing crescent, dark night | 21 13% Waxing crescent, dark night | 22 22% Waxing crescent, dark night |
| 23 33% Waxing crescent | 24 44% Waxing crescent | 25 55% First quarter | 26 66% Waxing gibbous | 27 76% Waxing gibbous | 28 85% Waxing gibbous | 29 92% Waxing gibbous |
| 30 96% Waxing gibbous | 31 99% Waxing gibbous |
- Full moon
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 100% Waxing gibbous | 2 99% Full moon | 3 97% Waning gibbous | 4 93% Waning gibbous | 5 87% Waning gibbous | ||
| 6 81% Waning gibbous | 7 73% Waning gibbous | 8 64% Waning gibbous | 9 54% Waning gibbous | 10 45% Last quarter | 11 35% Waning crescent | 12 26% Waning crescent |
| 13 17% Waning crescent, dark night | 14 10% Waning crescent, dark night | 15 4% Waning crescent, dark night | 16 1% Waning crescent, dark night | 17 1% New moon, dark night | 18 5% Waxing crescent, dark night | 19 11% Waxing crescent, dark night |
| 20 20% Waxing crescent, dark night | 21 30% Waxing crescent | 22 41% Waxing crescent | 23 52% Waxing crescent | 24 63% First quarter | 25 73% Waxing gibbous | 26 81% Waxing gibbous |
| 27 89% Waxing gibbous | 28 94% Waxing gibbous | 29 98% Waxing gibbous | 30 100% Waxing gibbous |
- Full moon
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 100% Full moon | 2 99% Waning gibbous | 3 96% Waning gibbous | ||||
| 4 92% Waning gibbous | 5 86% Waning gibbous | 6 79% Waning gibbous | 7 70% Waning gibbous | 8 61% Waning gibbous | 9 51% Last quarter | 10 41% Waning crescent |
| 11 31% Waning crescent | 12 22% Waning crescent, dark night | 13 13% Waning crescent, dark night | 14 6% Waning crescent, dark night | 15 2% Waning crescent, dark night | 16 0% New moon, dark night | 17 3% Waxing crescent, dark night |
| 18 9% Waxing crescent, dark night | 19 17% Waxing crescent, dark night | 20 26% Waxing crescent | 21 37% Waxing crescent | 22 48% Waxing crescent | 23 58% First quarter | 24 68% Waxing gibbous |
| 25 77% Waxing gibbous | 26 85% Waxing gibbous | 27 91% Waxing gibbous | 28 96% Waxing gibbous | 29 99% Waxing gibbous | 30 100% Waxing gibbous | 31 100% Full moon |
- Full moon
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
- Full moon
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 98% Waning gibbous | 2 95% Waning gibbous | 3 90% Waning gibbous | 4 84% Waning gibbous | 5 76% Waning gibbous | 6 67% Waning gibbous | 7 57% Waning gibbous |
| 8 47% Last quarter | 9 36% Waning crescent | 10 26% Waning crescent | 11 16% Waning crescent, dark night | 12 9% Waning crescent, dark night | 13 3% Waning crescent, dark night | 14 0% Waning crescent, dark night |
| 15 2% New moon, dark night | 16 7% Waxing crescent, dark night | 17 14% Waxing crescent, dark night | 18 23% Waxing crescent, dark night | 19 33% Waxing crescent | 20 43% Waxing crescent | 21 54% First quarter |
| 22 63% Waxing gibbous | 23 73% Waxing gibbous | 24 81% Waxing gibbous | 25 88% Waxing gibbous | 26 93% Waxing gibbous | 27 97% Waxing gibbous | 28 99% Waxing gibbous |
| 29 100% Full moon | 30 99% Waning gibbous |
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
- Full moon
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 97% Waning gibbous | 2 93% Waning gibbous | 3 87% Waning gibbous | 4 80% Waning gibbous | 5 71% Waning gibbous | ||
| 6 61% Waning gibbous | 7 51% Last quarter | 8 40% Waning crescent | 9 29% Waning crescent | 10 19% Waning crescent, dark night | 11 11% Waning crescent, dark night | 12 4% Waning crescent, dark night |
| 13 1% Waning crescent, dark night | 14 1% New moon, dark night | 15 5% Waxing crescent, dark night | 16 11% Waxing crescent, dark night | 17 19% Waxing crescent, dark night | 18 28% Waxing crescent | 19 38% Waxing crescent |
| 20 48% Waxing crescent | 21 58% First quarter | 22 67% Waxing gibbous | 23 76% Waxing gibbous | 24 83% Waxing gibbous | 25 90% Waxing gibbous | 26 95% Waxing gibbous |
| 27 98% Waxing gibbous | 28 100% Waxing gibbous | 29 100% Full moon | 30 99% Waning gibbous | 31 96% Waning gibbous |
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
- Full moon
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 90% Waning gibbous | 2 83% Waning gibbous | |||||
| 3 75% Waning gibbous | 4 65% Waning gibbous | 5 54% Waning gibbous | 6 43% Last quarter | 7 32% Waning crescent | 8 21% Waning crescent, dark night | 9 12% Waning crescent, dark night |
| 10 6% Waning crescent, dark night | 11 1% Waning crescent, dark night | 12 0% New moon, dark night | 13 3% Waxing crescent, dark night | 14 8% Waxing crescent, dark night | 15 15% Waxing crescent, dark night | 16 23% Waxing crescent, dark night |
| 17 32% Waxing crescent | 18 42% Waxing crescent | 19 51% Waxing crescent | 20 61% First quarter | 21 70% Waxing gibbous | 22 78% Waxing gibbous | 23 86% Waxing gibbous |
| 24 92% Waxing gibbous | 25 96% Waxing gibbous | 26 99% Waxing gibbous | 27 100% Waxing gibbous | 28 100% Full moon | 29 97% Waning gibbous | 30 93% Waning gibbous |
| 31 86% Waning gibbous |
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
- Full moon
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 78% Waning gibbous | 2 68% Waning gibbous | 3 57% Waning gibbous | 4 45% Last quarter | 5 34% Waning crescent | 6 23% Waning crescent, dark night | |
| 7 14% Waning crescent, dark night | 8 7% Waning crescent, dark night | 9 2% Waning crescent, dark night | 10 0% Waning crescent, dark night | 11 2% New moon, dark night | 12 5% Waxing crescent, dark night | 13 11% Waxing crescent, dark night |
| 14 18% Waxing crescent, dark night | 15 26% Waxing crescent | 16 35% Waxing crescent | 17 44% Waxing crescent | 18 54% First quarter | 19 63% Waxing gibbous | 20 72% Waxing gibbous |
| 21 80% Waxing gibbous | 22 88% Waxing gibbous | 23 93% Waxing gibbous | 24 98% Waxing gibbous | 25 100% Waxing gibbous | 26 100% Full moon | 27 99% Waning gibbous |
| 28 95% Waning gibbous | 29 88% Waning gibbous | 30 80% Waning gibbous |
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
- Full moon
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 70% Waning gibbous | 2 59% Waning gibbous | 3 48% Last quarter | 4 37% Waning crescent | |||
| 5 26% Waning crescent | 6 17% Waning crescent, dark night | 7 10% Waning crescent, dark night | 8 4% Waning crescent, dark night | 9 1% Waning crescent, dark night | 10 1% New moon, dark night | 11 3% Waxing crescent, dark night |
| 12 7% Waxing crescent, dark night | 13 13% Waxing crescent, dark night | 14 20% Waxing crescent, dark night | 15 28% Waxing crescent | 16 37% Waxing crescent | 17 46% Waxing crescent | 18 56% First quarter |
| 19 65% Waxing gibbous | 20 74% Waxing gibbous | 21 82% Waxing gibbous | 22 90% Waxing gibbous | 23 95% Waxing gibbous | 24 99% Waxing gibbous | 25 100% Waxing gibbous |
| 26 99% Full moon | 27 96% Waning gibbous | 28 91% Waning gibbous | 29 83% Waning gibbous | 30 73% Waning gibbous | 31 63% Waning gibbous |
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
- Full moon
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 51% Last quarter | ||||||
| 2 40% Waning crescent | 3 30% Waning crescent | 4 20% Waning crescent, dark night | 5 13% Waning crescent, dark night | 6 7% Waning crescent, dark night | 7 3% Waning crescent, dark night | 8 0% Waning crescent, dark night |
| 9 1% New moon, dark night | 10 4% Waxing crescent, dark night | 11 8% Waxing crescent, dark night | 12 14% Waxing crescent, dark night | 13 21% Waxing crescent, dark night | 14 29% Waxing crescent | 15 38% Waxing crescent |
| 16 48% Waxing crescent | 17 58% First quarter | 18 67% Waxing gibbous | 19 77% Waxing gibbous | 20 85% Waxing gibbous | 21 92% Waxing gibbous | 22 97% Waxing gibbous |
| 23 100% Waxing gibbous | 24 100% Full moon | 25 98% Waning gibbous | 26 93% Waning gibbous | 27 86% Waning gibbous | 28 77% Waning gibbous | 29 67% Waning gibbous |
| 30 56% Waning gibbous |
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
- Full moon
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 45% Last quarter | 2 34% Waning crescent | 3 25% Waning crescent, dark night | 4 17% Waning crescent, dark night | 5 10% Waning crescent, dark night | 6 5% Waning crescent, dark night | |
| 7 2% Waning crescent, dark night | 8 0% Waning crescent, dark night | 9 1% New moon, dark night | 10 4% Waxing crescent, dark night | 11 9% Waxing crescent, dark night | 12 15% Waxing crescent, dark night | 13 22% Waxing crescent, dark night |
| 14 31% Waxing crescent | 15 40% Waxing crescent | 16 50% Waxing crescent | 17 61% First quarter | 18 71% Waxing gibbous | 19 80% Waxing gibbous | 20 88% Waxing gibbous |
| 21 95% Waxing gibbous | 22 99% Waxing gibbous | 23 100% Waxing gibbous | 24 99% Full moon | 25 96% Waning gibbous | 26 89% Waning gibbous | 27 81% Waning gibbous |
| 28 72% Waning gibbous | 29 61% Waning gibbous | 30 51% Last quarter | 31 40% Waning crescent |
- Last quarter
- New moon
- First quarter
- Full moon
- Last quarter
New moons, full moons and the best aurora weeks in 2026
The best aurora week is the new moon plus and minus five days. The northern aurora season runs from September to March, the southern season from March to September. In summer the sky never gets dark at 69°N (midnight sun and light nights), so those weeks are no use for the northern lights.
| New moon (UTC) | Best aurora week | Next full moon (UTC) | Northern lights (69°N) | Southern lights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | – | – | – | |
| 13 Jan – 23 Jan | Good: in season | Off season | ||
| 12 Feb – 22 Feb | Good: in season | Off season | ||
| 14 Mar – 24 Mar | Good: in season | Good: in season | ||
| 12 Apr – 22 Apr | Not usable: too light (twilight or midnight sun) | Good: in season | ||
| 11 May – 21 May | Not usable: too light (twilight or midnight sun) | Good: in season | ||
| 10 Jun – 20 Jun | Not usable: too light (twilight or midnight sun) | Good: in season | ||
| 9 Jul – 19 Jul | Not usable: too light (twilight or midnight sun) | Good: in season | ||
| 7 Aug – 17 Aug | Not usable: too light (twilight or midnight sun) | Good: in season | ||
| 6 Sept – 16 Sept | Good: in season | Good: in season | ||
| 5 Oct – 15 Oct | Good: in season | Off season | ||
| 4 Nov – 14 Nov | Good: in season | Off season | ||
| 4 Dec – 14 Dec | Good: in season | Off season |
Plan your aurora trip
- Best time of year for the northern lights
- Trip planner: pick your dates and place
- Aurora forecast for the next days
Moon phases computed with the open-source astronomy-engine library (MIT licence). Accurate to about a minute.