October 19 Waxing Crescent 24% |
October 20 Waxing Crescent 34% |
October 21 Waxing Crescent Illumination: 45% |
October 22 First Quarter 56% |
October 23 Waxing Gibbous 67% |
On this day the Moon was in a Waxing Crescent Phase. Best seen in the west after the sun dips below the horizon at sunset. This is the first Phase after the New Moon and is a great time to see the features of the moon's surface. The moon is close to the sun in the sky and mostly dark except for the right edge of the moon which becomes brighter as the days get closer to the next phase which is a First Quarter with a 50% illumination.
Visit the October 2023 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.
The Waxing Crescent on October 21 has an illumination of 45%. 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 October 21 the Moon is 6.88 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.
The current zodiac moon sign is Libra, positioned at 25.82° within the sign. The Moon entered Libra on Loading... and will shift into Scorpio on Loading.... The zodiac moon sign represents the position of the Moon as it moves through the twelve signs of the zodiac. Each zodiac moon sign lasts about 2 to 2.5 days as the Moon travels through that part of the sky.
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.
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