Where is the Moon right now?
It depends on the hour, the date and where you stand. The calculator below gives the Moon's compass direction and its height above the horizon for any place and time, starting at this minute; the tables show a whole Full Moon night in New York, hour by hour.
Where the Moon is now, from where you are
Enter your latitude and longitude (west is negative) and the time zone your clock is on; the date and time start at now. Direction is measured from north (90° is east, 180° south); height is the angle above a level horizon.
At
Without JavaScript, the example above is New York at 9:00 p.m. on October 25, 2026, the evening before the Full Moon.
A Full Moon night, hour by hour
In New York on the night of the Full Moon of October 26, 2026, the Moon rises at 5:26 p.m. on October 25 in the east-northeast, is highest, 65° up, at 12:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. as it passes the south, and sets at 7:56 a.m. on October 26 in the west-northwest. The Moon crosses the sky from east to west, like the Sun, and is highest when it passes the south:
| Time | Height | Direction | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6:00 p.m. | 5° up | east-northeast (75°) | up |
| 7:00 p.m. | 16° up | east (84°) | down |
| 8:00 p.m. | 27° up | east (93°) | down |
| 9:00 p.m. | 38° up | east-southeast (103°) | down |
| 10:00 p.m. | 49° up | east-southeast (116°) | down |
| 11:00 p.m. | 58° up | southeast (134°) | down |
| 12:00 a.m. | 65° up | south-southeast (161°) | down |
| 1:00 a.m. | 65° up | south-southwest (194°) | down |
| 2:00 a.m. | 60° up | southwest (223°) | down |
| 3:00 a.m. | 51° up | west-southwest (243°) | down |
| 4:00 a.m. | 41° up | west-southwest (257°) | down |
| 5:00 a.m. | 30° up | west (267°) | down |
| 6:00 a.m. | 19° up | west (277°) | down |
Why the Moon is sometimes not there
NASA describes the pattern: a first quarter Moon rises around midday and sets around the middle of the night; a full Moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise; a third quarter (last quarter) Moon rises around the middle of the night and sets around midday; a new Moon rises and sets with the Sun. So on many evenings the Moon is not up yet, or already down. At 9 p.m. in New York, through one month of phases:
| Phase | Date | Moonrise | At 9 p.m. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Oct 26 | 5:58 p.m. | 32° up, east (89°) |
| Last Quarter | Nov 1 | 11:14 p.m. | below the horizon |
| New Moon | Nov 9 | 7:07 a.m. | below the horizon |
| First Quarter | Nov 17 | 12:52 p.m. | 27° up, southwest (224°) |
The same moment across the US
At 9 p.m. local time on October 25, 2026, the Moon stands 43° up in Honolulu but only 24° in Anchorage. Each city is at 9 p.m. by its own clock, so the Moon is at a different point of its path:
| City | Height | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 38° up | east-southeast (103°) |
| Toronto | 34° up | east-southeast (101°) |
| Miami | 35° up | east (88°) |
| Chicago | 39° up | east-southeast (105°) |
| Houston | 34° up | east (90°) |
| Denver | 37° up | east (101°) |
| Los Angeles | 39° up | east (97°) |
| Seattle | 34° up | east-southeast (104°) |
| Anchorage | 24° up | east (100°) |
| Honolulu | 43° up | east (86°) |
How the numbers are counted
Height is for the center of the Moon, with the bending of light near the horizon added; direction is the compass bearing from true north. Checked against NASA's JPL Horizons for every time and city in the tables on this page.
Where Angel Step fits
Angel Step reads only your step count from Apple Health and shows it as one number on a living sky. It does not track the Moon; that is this page's job. Knowing which way to face is half of a good night walk.
Sources
- NASA JPL Horizons — the Moon's apparent direction and height, used to check every row of the tables. JPL
- NASA Science, “Moon Phases”: when the Moon rises and sets in each phase. NASA
- US Naval Observatory, “Phases of the Moon”: the dates of the phases. USNO
- 15 U.S.C. § 260a — daylight saving time, used for the clock times. Cornell LII
Updated