What is the Moon doing in October?

The Moon in January

The Moon in February

The Moon in March

The Moon in April

The Moon in May

The Moon in June

The Moon in July

The Moon in August

The Moon in September

The Moon in October

The Moon in November

The Moon in December


In general, we can tell what the Moon will look like, when it will be visible, and in what direction to look for it, just by working out how many days it is since New Moon.  The details are here.

But we can predict this more accurately by noticing that the Moon mimics, every month, the way the Sun behaves over the course of a whole year.


Here is a schematic diagram of how the Moon behaves in October.

moon's path in October

At New Moon, the Moon behaves like the Sun in October. It's heading southwards, so it spends less time above the horizon every day. The time of moonrise still gets later every day; but the time of moonset doesn't change much from one night to the next. So we have to wait several days before we can see the crescent Moon after sunset.

The crescent Moon behaves like the Sun in November and December, and the First-Quarter Moon behaves like the Sun in January (3 months forward from October). Throughout this period, the Moon only spends a few hours each day above the horizon, rising in the south-east and setting in the south-west.

The waxing gibbous Moon behaves like the Sun in February and March, and the Full Moon behaves like the Sun in April (opposite to the October Sun). It's now moving northwards, so it spends longer above the horizon every day. The time of moonrise doesn't change much from one night to the next.

The waning gibbous Moon behaves like the Sun in May and June, and the Last-Quarter Moon behaves like the Sun in July (3 months before October). Around these phases, the Moon is above the horizon for many hours of each day, rising in the north-east and setting in the north-west.

The waning "crescent" Moon behaves like the Sun in August; it's beginning to move southwards again, and getting harder to see. But it's still further north than the Sun is, so we can expect to see it in the sky at dawn almost all the way up to New Moon.

On any date, if you know how many days it is since New Moon: multiply that by twelve, and add it to the present date, to find out roughly where the Moon will be in its cycle.


However, the Moon doesn't follow the Sun's path exactly. To find out what difference that makes, try clicking here.

Return to "What is the Moon doing?"

Return to "What's in the Sky"


Return to "What's in the Sky"

Return to "What is the Moon doing?"