Moon Magic: Waxing And Waning Explained (2025)

The Moon's phases change as it orbits the Earth, with the same hemisphere always facing our planet. The Moon's phases are defined by the apparent shape of the Moon's sunlit portion as viewed from Earth. The four primary phases are the new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter. The four intermediate phases are waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, waning gibbous, and waning crescent. The waxing phase is when the Moon's illuminated surface, as seen from Earth, increases from new to full. The waning phase is when the Moon's illuminated surface decreases from full to new again. The Moon's phases can be observed from Earth as it orbits the Earth, with the waxing phase occurring from new to full and the waning phase occurring from full to new. The Moon's phases always look the same, but they appear differently depending on whether you are viewing them from the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.

Difference between waxing and waning moon phases

The waxing moon is illuminated on the right side in the Northern Hemisphere

The Moon's phases are the same all over the world, but they appear differently in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The Moon waxes and wanes from right to left in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning a waxing moon will be illuminated on the right side.

The Moon takes 27.3 days to orbit the Earth, but the full lunar cycle takes 29.5 days to complete. Throughout the cycle, the Moon will be waxing each day, or increasing how much of it you can see lit up at night, then waning, or decreasing in size until it disappears. The waxing phase occurs when the Moon's illuminated surface, as seen from Earth, increases. The lunar phases progress through new moon, crescent moon, first-quarter moon, gibbous moon, and full moon. The Moon then wanes as it passes through gibbous moon, third-quarter moon, and crescent moon before returning to the new moon.

The waxing crescent moon is an intermediate phase that comes after the new moon. During this phase, only a small part of the Moon's visible disk is directly illuminated by the Sun, but the rest of the Moon is sometimes also faintly visible due to a phenomenon called earthshine or the Da Vinci glow. This phenomenon is caused by the Earth reflecting sunlight as a faint glow onto the Moon. The waxing crescent moon rises in the daytime before noon and becomes visible in the day sky. It gets more visible around sunset but typically sets before midnight.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the Moon is observed from a perspective that is inverted or rotated 180 degrees from the Northern Hemisphere. As a result, the Moon waxes and wanes from left to right, with the illuminated portion appearing on the left side during the waxing phase.

The waning moon is illuminated on the left side in the Northern Hemisphere

The Moon's phases are determined by the Moon's orbit around Earth and how much of the illuminated half of the Moon we can see from Earth. The Moon's phases are different in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon waxes and wanes from right to left. This means that a waxing moon will be illuminated on the right side, and a waning moon will be illuminated on the left side.

The waxing moon, on the other hand, is illuminated on the right side in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the phase when the Moon's apparent shape is thickening, from new to full. The waxing phase includes the crescent moon, first-quarter moon, and gibbous moon. The first-quarter moon is 90 degrees from the Sun, and half of the Moon's surface facing us is lit up. The waxing crescent moon is visible in the western sky in the evening.

The Moon's phases are not caused by the Earth's shadow falling on the Moon but by the Moon's shadow on itself. The Sun always illuminates half of the Moon, but how much of the illuminated half we can see changes as the Moon orbits Earth. The lunar cycle, from new moon to new moon, lasts about 29.5 days, just under a calendar month.

The Southern Hemisphere sees the opposite

The Moon takes 27.3 days to orbit the Earth, but the full lunar cycle takes 29.5 days to complete. During this cycle, the Moon waxes and wanes. Waxing refers to the growing or increasing illumination of the Moon as it moves from a new moon to a full moon. On the other hand, waning refers to the decreasing illumination of the Moon as it moves from a full moon to a new moon. The Moon's phases always look the same, but its orientation in the sky differs depending on the viewer's hemisphere.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon waxes and wanes from right to left. This means that a waxing moon is illuminated on the right side, and a waning moon is illuminated on the left side. However, in the Southern Hemisphere, the Moon's illumination appears opposite to that in the Northern Hemisphere. The Moon in the Southern Hemisphere waxes and wanes from left to right. Thus, a waxing moon is illuminated on the left side, and a waning moon is illuminated on the right side.

The Moon's orientation in the Southern Hemisphere is inverted or rotated 180 degrees compared to the Northern Hemisphere. This means that the Moon's crescent can open upward or downward, with the "horns" of the crescent pointing up or down, respectively. When the Sun is above the Moon in the sky, the crescent opens downward, and when the Moon is above the Sun, the crescent opens upward. The crescent Moon is most visible when the Sun is below the horizon, indicating that the Moon is above the Sun, and the crescent opens upward.

The waxing and waning crescents in the Southern Hemisphere look very similar. The waxing crescent appears in the western sky in the evening, while the waning crescent appears in the eastern sky in the morning. The Moon's illumination can be used to determine its phase, the tides, and its position in relation to the Earth and the Sun.

To summarise, the Southern Hemisphere observes the Moon from a perspective that is inverted or rotated 180 degrees compared to the Northern Hemisphere. As a result, the Moon in the Southern Hemisphere waxes and wanes from left to right, which is the opposite of the Northern Hemisphere's right-to-left illumination.

The waxing moon is growing in strength or increasing in size

The waxing phase is when the amount of the illuminated surface of the Moon, as viewed from Earth, increases. During this phase, the Moon is growing in strength and size, moving from a thin crescent of light to a completely illuminated circle. This process takes the Moon through the different phases of the lunar cycle, from new moon to crescent moon, first-quarter moon, gibbous moon, and, finally, full moon.

The waxing phase is easily distinguishable from the waning phase. The former is when the Moon's apparent shape is thickening, while the latter is when the shape is thinning. The Moon's journey from new to full is the waxing phase, and from full to new again is the waning phase. The Moon's phases always look the same, so although its position in the sky may vary, you can always identify the phase it is in.

The waxing and waning phases also appear differently in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. In the Northern Hemisphere, the waxing moon will be illuminated on the right side, and the waning moon on the left side. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is the opposite—the waxing moon will be illuminated on the left side, and the waning moon on the right.

The waxing and waning phases are intermediate phases of the lunar cycle, which also has four primary phases: new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter. The intermediate phases last about a week each, during which the exact fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated gradually changes. The waxing crescent phase, for example, marks the beginning of a month in the Islamic Calendar.

The waning moon is decreasing in strength or size

The waning moon is a phase of the moon's cycle when its illuminated portion appears to be decreasing in size. This occurs during the latter half of the lunar cycle, as the moon transitions from a full moon back to a new moon.

During the waning phase, the amount of the moon's surface that is illuminated by the sun gradually diminishes. This is because the moon's position in its orbit around the Earth is changing, causing us to see less of the sunlit side. The waning phase starts after the full moon, when the moon is completely illuminated, and ends with the new moon, when the moon's dark, unlit side is facing us and it becomes invisible from Earth.

The waning phase is further divided into three intermediate phases: waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent. In the waning gibbous phase, the moon appears more than half but not fully illuminated, and this fraction gradually decreases. This is followed by the third quarter phase, where half of the moon's surface appears illuminated, similar to the first quarter phase but with the opposite half lit up. Finally, the waning crescent phase occurs when the moon appears as a thin, diminishing crescent of light.

The visibility of the waning moon depends on the hemisphere from which it is observed. In the Northern Hemisphere, the waning moon appears illuminated on the left side, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it is illuminated on the right side. The waning crescent phase, in particular, can be observed in the eastern sky during the morning in the Northern Hemisphere and in the western sky during the evening in the Southern Hemisphere.

The waning moon holds cultural and practical significance for many people. For instance, some farmers plant their seeds during the waning moon, believing it to be conducive to higher yields and more spectacular plants. Additionally, the waning moon is associated with certain rituals and beliefs in various traditions.

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