Daily Guide

NASA's detailed guide to watching the sky.

The bright, glowing Milky way fills the middle of this desert landscape.

December - January Skywatching

Get the Complete Daily Guide to the Night Sky
The main phases of the Moon are illustrated in a horizontal row, with the new Moon on December 1st, first quarter Moon on December 8th, full Moon on December 15th, and the third quarter Moon on December 22nd.
The phases of the Moon for December 2024.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Daily Guides Archive

An archive of retired NASA executive Gordon Johnston's monthly skywatching column.

Full Moon over mountains.

The Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon

31 min read

The Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon, Frost Moon, or the Winter Moon; the Moon before Yule or the Oak Moon; the Long Night Moon; the Child Moon; the Datta or Dattatreya Jayanti Festival Moon; the Karthika Deepam Festival…

Article2 weeks ago
The full Moon in a night sky is at center, wile the left side of the frame is dominated by a dimly lit statue of a human figure facing right, with its head and upper torso visible.

The Next Full Moon Will Be the Last of Four Consecutive Supermoons

24 min read

The Next Full Moon is a Supermoon; the Beaver, Frost, Frosty, or Snow Moon; Kartik Purnima; Loy Krathong; the Bon Om Touk (”Boat Racing Festival”) Moon, the Tazaungdaing Festival Moon; and Ill Poya. The next full Moon will be Friday…

Article1 month ago
A supermoon rises behind the U.S. Capitol, Monday, March 9, 2020

The Next Full Moon is a Supermoon, and the Hunter’s Moon

29 min read

The Next Full Moon is a Supermoon; the Hunter’s Moon; the Travel Moon, the Dying Grass Moon, or the Sanguine or Blood Moon; the start of Sukkoth; Sharad Purnima, Kumara Purnima, Kojagari Purnima, Navanna Purnima Kojagrat Purnima, or Kaumudi Purnima;…

Article2 months ago