![]() May 18 Waxing Crescent 38% |
![]() May 19 First Quarter 49% |
![]() Waxing Gibbous Illumination: 59% |
![]() May 21 Waxing Gibbous 70% |
![]() May 22 Waxing Gibbous 80% |
On this day the Moon was in a Waxing Gibbous phase. Visible through most of the night sky setting a few hours before sunrise. This phase is when the moon is more than 50% illuminated but not yet a Full Moon. The phase lasts about 7 days with the moon becoming more illuminated each day until the Full Moon.
During a Waxing Gibbous the moon rises in the east in mid-afternoon and is high in the eastern sky at sunset. The word Gibbous first appeared in the 14th century and has its roots in the Latin word "gibbosus" meaning humpbacked.
Visit the May 2021 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.
The Waxing Gibbous on May 20 has an illumination of 59%. 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 20 the Moon is 8.27 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.