Next New Moon

The next New Moon will occur on:

That's in 7 days, 21 hours and 14 minutes.

At that exact time the Moon will be at the distance of 360,041.9 kilometers (223,720.2 miles) from Earth and, seen from Greenwich, UK [change location], it will be in the constellation of Taurus. The precise celestial position of the Moon at that time can be viewed on our interactive sky map.

The apparent size of the Moon will be 0.55°.

Understanding the New Moon

A New Moon occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun. During this phase, the Moon is generally not visible from Earth (except during a solar eclipse) for two main reasons: first, the side of the Moon facing us is not illuminated directly by the Sun (it's in shadow, only faintly illuminated by sunlight reflected from Earth - Earthshine - which is too dim to see during the day), and second, it's positioned very close to the Sun in our sky, making it difficult or impossible to see it against the Sun's glare.

Interval Between New Moons

The interval between two new moons is approximately 29.53 days, i.e. 29 days, 12 hours and 43 minutes. This period, known as a Synodic Month or Lunation, is the average time it takes for the Moon's phases to repeat. This is an average value; the actual interval can vary by several hours. This variation occurs primarily because the Moon's orbit around Earth is not perfectly circular, and also due to the Earth's elliptical orbit around the Sun.

New Moon and Eclipses

Occasionally, a New Moon aligns almost perfectly with the Sun as seen from specific locations on Earth. This is when solar eclipses occur. Solar eclipses don't happen at every New Moon though. This is because the Moon's orbit around Earth is tilted relative to Earth's orbit around the Sun. Consequently, during most New Moons, the Moon passes slightly above or below the Sun in the sky (from our perspective), and no eclipse takes place.

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive

• The Moon: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com
• The Moon Today: Current phase and a high-resolution image of the Moon's present appearance.
• Next Full Moon: Precise date, time and visibility information of the next Full Moon.
• Next New Moon: Precise date, time and additional information about the next New Moon.
• Moon Calendar: Track the phases of the moon for each day.
• Where is The Moon?: Key information on locating The Moon in the sky.
• Distance from Earth: Find out how far The Moon is from Earth right now.
• How Bright is The Moon?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
• Rise and Set Times: The Moon's rise and set times from your location.
• Interactive Sky Map: planetarium-style interactive visualization of The Moon's position in the sky.
• Ephemeris: 15 days The Moon's computed ephemeris.