Waning Gibbous

Why MoonCadence

Most "moon phase today" pages either bury the number under ads or dress it up with unsourced claims. MoonCadencedoes one thing carefully: it computes the real astronomy — phase, illumination, moonrise and moonset, and the zodiac sign the Moon currently occupies — directly from published ephemeris algorithms, and pairs that with honestly-researched folklore for readers who want the meaning side too. Every claim on this site is labeled as either a computed fact or a documented tradition; we never blur the two.

Whether you're a photographer timing a shot, an angler checking a solunar window, a gardener planning by the old lunar-planting calendar, or someone drawn to full-moon ritual and new-moon intention-setting, the same real numbers sit underneath every page.

The astronomy itself runs on astronomy-engine, a well-established, actively maintained implementation of high-precision lunar and solar ephemeris algorithms — the same class of calculation professional planetarium and observatory software uses, not a simplified approximation or a static lookup table. That means the phase you see right now, the illumination percentage, the Moon's zodiac position, and every full-moon date across our 18-month calendar window are each computed fresh from real orbital mechanics, down to the minute.

Where MoonCadence differs from most moon-phase sites isn't the astronomy — plenty of sites can compute a phase correctly — it's the honesty layered on top of it. Every traditional full-moon name (Wolf Moon, Harvest Moon, and the rest) comes with real, sourced folklore and an honest note on where different regional or Indigenous naming traditions genuinely disagree, rather than one flattened, invented-sounding story. Every spiritual or ritual practice we cover — moon water, full-moon release rituals, new-moon manifestation — is framed plainly as tradition and personal reflection, never advice, and never dressed up as science it isn't. And where a claim about the Moon actually has been studied — sleep, mood, the menstrual cycle — we report what the research actually found, including where studies disagree or failed to replicate, instead of picking whichever answer is more shareable.

Practically, that means a photographer can trust the moonrise time enough to plan a shot around it, an angler can read an honest evidentiary summary of solunar theory instead of a marketing pitch for it, a gardener deciding whether to follow the old planting calendar gets a straight answer on the (thin) research behind it rather than a sales pitch, and someone curious about moon rituals can try a New Moon intention-setting practice knowing plainly that its value is reflective, not physical. Every one of those readers is served by the same underlying commitment: compute what can be computed, source what's claimed as tradition, and never let the two blur together.

Explore by Phase

Traditional Full Moon Names

Two Ways to Explore the Moon

MoonCadence splits its deeper content into two hubs, built for two different reasons to be here. Our Lunar Meaning & Ritual hub covers moon rituals, folklore, and symbolism — new-moon intentions, full-moon rituals, moon water, and more — always framed honestly as tradition, never advice. Our Skywatching Guides hub covers the practical, physical side — photography settings, eclipses, tides, telescopes — explained plainly, with the real mechanism behind each phenomenon.

Frequently Asked Questions