New Moon

Next occurrence (UTC):

Typical illumination: 0%

A new moon occurs when the Moon is roughly between Earth and the Sun. The sunlit hemisphere faces away from us, so the Moon's disk appears dark — illumination is near 0%.

How it looks

In the sky the new moon is essentially invisible: it is lost in the Sun's glare and rises and sets with the Sun. You may notice a thin earthshine crescent only under dark skies shortly after (or before) the exact new moon.

When it is visible

New moon typically happens once every synodic month (~29.5 days). Around new moon the Moon is up during the day and below the horizon at night, so it is not useful for night-time observation.

Geometry

Ecliptic phase longitude is near 0°. Earth, Moon and Sun are nearly aligned, with the Moon in the middle — the geometry that can also produce a solar eclipse when the alignment is precise enough.

All moon phases