The date depends on where you live
A full moon is the instant when the Moon, seen from the centre of the Earth, is exactly opposite the Sun. That instant is the same for everyone, but your clock is not: a full moon at 01:28 Universal Time on 24 December 2026 falls on 23 December at 8:28 pm in New York and on 24 December at 10:28 am in Tokyo. The date and time at the top of this page are converted to the time zone of your device.
The names of the twelve full moons
| Month | Name |
|---|---|
| January | Wolf Moon |
| February | Snow Moon |
| March | Worm Moon |
| April | Pink Moon |
| May | Flower Moon |
| June | Strawberry Moon |
| July | Buck Moon |
| August | Sturgeon Moon |
| September | Corn Moon |
| October | Hunter’s Moon |
| November | Beaver Moon |
| December | Cold Moon |
The Harvest Moon is a special case: it is the full moon closest to the September equinox, so it is the September moon in most years and the October moon in some.
Why some full moons are bigger
The Moon’s orbit is an ellipse. At perigee it is about 356,500 km away, at apogee about 406,700 km. A full moon near perigee appears about 14% wider than one near apogee. The table gives the distance of each full moon, so you can see the cycle: the closest full moons come in a row of three or four, then recede for about seven months.
The Moon looks largest when it is near the horizon, whatever its distance. That is the Moon illusion, an effect of perception: measured with a ruler held at arm’s length, the rising Moon is the same size as the Moon high in the sky.
Full moons and eclipses
A lunar eclipse can only happen at full moon, when the Earth stands between the Sun and the Moon. It does not happen every month, because the Moon’s orbit is tilted by 5° and the Moon usually passes above or below the Earth’s shadow. The table marks the full moons that bring an eclipse.
Questions and answers
How long is the Moon full?
Strictly, for an instant: the moment the Moon is exactly opposite the Sun. To the eye it looks full for about three nights, the night before, the night of and the night after, because the disc is more than 97% lit during that time.
What is a supermoon?
A full moon that happens when the Moon is close to perigee, the nearest point of its orbit. There is no official definition. This page uses a simple one: a full moon less than 362,000 km from the centre of the Earth. Such a Moon looks about 7% wider and 15% brighter than an average full moon, a difference that is hard to notice without a comparison.
What is a blue moon?
The second full moon in one calendar month. It happens about every two and a half years, and it does not look blue. An older definition calls blue moon the third full moon in a season that has four.
Where do the full moon names come from?
Wolf Moon, Harvest Moon and the others were spread by North American almanacs in the twentieth century. They mix names from Native American peoples, from colonial settlers and from European tradition, and each one is tied to a month of the year.
What time does the full moon rise?
Around sunset. A full moon is opposite the Sun, so it rises as the Sun sets and sets as the Sun rises. The exact time for your town is on the sunrise and sunset page.
Updated November 11, 2026