Moon Phase on Thursday, December 3, 2026

Times on this page are for New York, NY (EST) unless noted. Phase and illumination are calculated for 12:00 PM local time with astronomy-engine.

The Moon is a waning crescent moon on Thursday, December 3, 2026 (25% lit). It rises in the early morning hours, shortly before the Sun, so look low in the east before dawn. In New York, NY, moonrise is at 1:42 AM.

A waning crescent moon (25%) closes out the lunar cycle on Thursday, December 3, 2026. Earthshine often returns on the dark part of the disk. The next New Moon is only a few days away.

Viewing tips

Nights are nearly moonless, which makes this an excellent time for deep-sky observing and meteor showers. For the crescent itself, look east about an hour before sunrise.

The next major phase is the New Moon on December 8 at 7:52 PM EST, 5 days from now.

The next full moon is the Cold Moon on Wednesday, December 23, 2026. See the Cold Moon page for times in every US time zone.

The Moon takes about 29.5 days to go through all eight phases, the synodic month. Phases happen at the same instant everywhere on Earth, but the calendar date can change with your time zone, especially when a phase falls near midnight.