news sciences: Where’s the moon? Waning gibbous

Daylight waning gibbous moon over Sabah, North Borneo – June 12, 2017 – from Jenney Disimon.

Are you looking for the moon and not finding it? That’s because the moon is now in a waning gibbous phase: less than full but more than half-lighted. It’s rising later at night and appearing in the predawn sky and in the sky after sunrise. Last quarter moon will come on June 17, 2017 at 11:33 UTC. (Translate to your time zone here).

A waning gibbous moon initiates a rash of questions about seeing the moon during the day. If it rises late at night, you know the waning gibbous moon must set after sunrise.

In fact, in the few days after full moon, you’ll often see the waning gibbous moon in the west in early morning, floating against the pale blue sky.

What else can I say about a waning gibbous moon? Only that it can surprise you if you happen to be out late in the evening. It rises eerily some hours after sunset, glowing red like a full moon when it’s near the horizon.

Sometimes it looks like a misshapen clone of a full moon.

Waning gibbous on June 12, 2017 as it was rising. Chirag Upreti wrote: ” … a deep orange hue behind summer foliage in New Jersey. The colors expressed by the moon as it moved over the horizon and beyond were really breathtaking.”

As the moon orbits Earth, it changes phase in an orderly way. Follow these links to understand the various phases of the moon.

Four keys to understanding moon phases

Where’s the moon? Waxing crescent
Where’s the moon? First quarter
Where’s the moon? Waxing gibbous
What’s special about a full moon?
Where’s the moon? Waning gibbous
Where’s the moon? Last quarter
Where’s the moon? Waning crescent
Where’s the moon? New phase