Source: nineplanets.org
The current moon phase for May 18th, 2025 is the Waning Gibbous phase.
On this day, the moon is 20.42 days old and 75.52% illuminated with a tilt of -64.031°. The approximate distance from Earth to the moon is 390,855.90 km and the moon sign is Capricorn.
The Moon phase for May 18th, 2025 is a Waning Gibbous phase. This is the first phase after the Full Moon where the illumination of the moon decreases each day until it reaches 50% (the Last Quarter phase).
The waning (shrinking) gibbous Moon will rise after sunset in the east, transit the meridian after midnight, before setting after sunrise in the west.
During this phase, the illumination of the moon will go down from 99.% to 50.1%. Technically, the phase starts as soon as the Full Moon has passed, but it can be difficult to calculate and differentiate the first stage of a Waning Gibbous Moon from a Full Moon when 98-99% of the Moon’s surface is illuminated.
Fun fact: the word Gibbous was first used in the 14th century and comes from the latin word gibbosus which means humpbacked.
Phase Details
Phase: Waning Gibbous
Moon age: 20.42 days
Moon illumination: 75.52%
Moon tilt: -64.031°
Moon angle: 0.51
Moon distance: 390,855.90 km
Moon sign: Capricorn
Source: MoonGiant.com
You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious, you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else was born.
The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waning Gibbous. During this phase the Moon can be seen in the early morning daylight hours on the western horizon. This is the first phase after the Full Moon occurs. It lasts roughly 7 days with the Moon’s illumination growing smaller each day until the Moon becomes a Last Quarter Moon with an illumination of 50%. The average Moon rise for this phase is between 9pm and Midnight depending on the age of the phase. The moon rises later and later each night setting after sunrise in the morning.
Visit the May 2025 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.
Today’s Waning Gibbous Phase
The Waning Gibbous on May 18 has an illumination of 69%. 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 May 18 the Moon is 20.31 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.
Phase Details
Illumination: 69%
Moon Age: 20.31 days
Moon Angle: 0.52
Moon Distance: 383,654.89 km
Sun Angle: 0.53
Sun Distance: 151,357,056.40 km
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.
Useful Moon Resources
Check the weather before a night of Moon gazing at weather.com
For a list of all the current meteor showers visit American Meteor Society
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