What is the moon phase today? Lunar phases 2024

Today, Oct. 14, 2024 , the moon is 12 days old and is in the Waxing Gibbous phase of its lunar cycle.

The next moon phase milestone will be the Full Moon on Oct. 17 at 7:26 a.m. EDT ( 1126 ) The Full Moon happens when the sun fully lights the lunar face that Earth sees.

Moon phases describe how much of the moon's disk is illuminated from our perspective.

The moon, like Earth , is a sphere, and it is always half -illuminated by the sun.

As the moon moves around Earth , the side we can see gradually becomes more illuminated by direct sunlight.

Usually, the moon passes above or below the sun from our vantage point, but occasionally it passes right in front of the sun and we get a solar eclipse.

New Moon , First Quarter , Full Moon, and Last Quarter are the names of lunar phases.

The production of the phases depends on the Earth -moon-sun geometry and on the revolution motion of the moon around the Earth .

Tides are periodic changes in sea level known since ancient times.

When the moon is New or Full, the tides are maximum because the attraction forces of the sun and the moon add up.