What time does the Moon rise tonight?
It changes every day. In New York in 2027, the Moon rises on average 50 minutes later each day, but the gap changes through the month, from 20 to 83 minutes. The calculator below gives moonrise and moonset for any place and date, with the direction to look; the tables give New York for every Full Moon to the end of 2027.
Moonrise and moonset for your place
Enter your latitude and longitude (west is negative), the time zone your clock is on and a date. The times are for a level, open horizon.
Moonrise
The date starts at today; without JavaScript, the example above is New York on October 25, 2026, the evening of the Full Moon. Moonset is the one on the same calendar day, which can come before the moonrise.
Moonrise on Full Moon nights in New York
According to NASA, a Full Moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise. For each Full Moon to the end of 2027, the table gives its moment and the moonrise closest to it, in Eastern time. At the Full Moon of October 26, 2026 (12:12 a.m. Eastern time), the Moon rises in New York at 5:26 p.m. on October 25, in the east-northeast.
| Full Moon | Moonrise | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 26, 12:12 a.m. | Oct 25, 5:26 p.m. | east-northeast (70°) |
| Nov 24, 9:53 a.m. | Nov 24, 4:16 p.m. | northeast (55°) |
| Dec 23, 8:28 p.m. | Dec 23, 3:58 p.m. | northeast (53°) |
| Jan 22, 7:17 a.m. | Jan 22, 5:25 p.m. | east-northeast (65°) |
| Feb 20, 6:23 p.m. | Feb 20, 5:32 p.m. | east-northeast (77°) |
| Mar 22, 6:44 a.m. | Mar 21, 6:37 p.m. | east (91°) |
| Apr 20, 6:27 p.m. | Apr 20, 7:50 p.m. | east-southeast (112°) |
| May 20, 6:59 a.m. | May 19, 7:53 p.m. | east-southeast (122°) |
| Jun 18, 8:44 p.m. | Jun 18, 8:42 p.m. | southeast (127°) |
| Jul 18, 11:45 a.m. | Jul 18, 8:38 p.m. | east-southeast (119°) |
| Aug 17, 3:29 a.m. | Aug 16, 7:35 p.m. | east-southeast (109°) |
| Sep 15, 7:03 p.m. | Sep 15, 6:45 p.m. | east (90°) |
| Oct 15, 9:47 a.m. | Oct 15, 5:58 p.m. | east-northeast (71°) |
| Nov 13, 10:26 p.m. | Nov 13, 4:01 p.m. | east-northeast (61°) |
| Dec 13, 11:09 a.m. | Dec 13, 4:22 p.m. | northeast (54°) |
Why the Moon rises later each day
According to NASA, the Moon rises on average about 50 minutes later each day, because it is moving in its orbit around Earth: by the time Earth has turned once, the Moon has moved on a little, and Earth has to turn a bit more to bring it over the horizon. In New York in 2027, the Moon rises on average 50 minutes later each day, but the gap changes through the month, from 20 to 83 minutes. In the week of the October 2026 Full Moon, the gap grows from day to day:
| Date | Moonrise | Direction | Moonset |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23 | 4:36 p.m. | east (87°) | 4:19 a.m. |
| Oct 24 | 4:59 p.m. | east-northeast (78°) | 5:28 a.m. |
| Oct 25 | 5:26 p.m. | east-northeast (70°) | 6:40 a.m. |
| Oct 26 | 5:58 p.m. | east-northeast (63°) | 7:56 a.m. |
| Oct 27 | 6:39 p.m. | east-northeast (57°) | 9:14 a.m. |
| Oct 28 | 7:30 p.m. | northeast (53°) | 10:32 a.m. |
| Oct 29 | 8:32 p.m. | northeast (52°) | 11:42 a.m. |
Where the Moon rises
The Moon rises in the eastern half of the sky, but rarely due east: over a month the point of moonrise swings north and south. In New York in 2027, the Moon rises as far north as northeast (52°) on January 19, 2027 and as far south as southeast (128°) on February 2, 2027.
One night across the US
On the evening of October 25, 2026, before the Full Moon, the Moon rises in each city by its own clock:
| City | Moonrise | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 5:26 p.m. | east-northeast (70°) |
| Toronto | 5:42 p.m. | east-northeast (69°) |
| Miami | 6:16 p.m. | east-northeast (73°) |
| Chicago | 5:19 p.m. | east-northeast (69°) |
| Houston | 6:12 p.m. | east-northeast (72°) |
| Denver | 5:35 p.m. | east-northeast (70°) |
| Los Angeles | 5:39 p.m. | east-northeast (71°) |
| Seattle | 5:27 p.m. | east-northeast (66°) |
| Anchorage | 5:26 p.m. | northeast (55°) |
| Honolulu | 5:42 p.m. | east-northeast (72°) |
Days with no moonrise
Because the Moon rises later each day, about once a month the moonrise moves past midnight and skips a calendar day; on the calculator, that day shows “no moonrise”. In New York in 2027, 12 days have no moonrise at all.
How the times are counted
The US Naval Observatory computes moonrise and moonset for exactly the same circumstances as sunrise and sunset: the upper edge of the disk on a level horizon, with the average refraction of the air at the horizon, 34 arcminutes. This page uses the same definition. For New York, every day from October 14, 2026 to December 31, 2027, 851 of 857 moonrise and moonset times match the US Naval Observatory to the minute, and the rest differ by one minute. Hills and buildings on your horizon add minutes.
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. A moonrise is a good reason for an evening walk.
Sources
- US Naval Observatory, “Rise, Set, and Twilight Definitions”: moonrise and moonset are computed for the same circumstances as sunrise and sunset. USNO
- US Naval Observatory, “Sun and Moon Data for One Day”: used to check the New York times on this page. USNO
- NASA Science, “Skywatching FAQ”: the Moon rises on average about 50 minutes later each day, because it moves in its orbit. NASA
- NASA Science, “Moon Phases”: a full Moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise. NASA
- US Naval Observatory, “Phases of the Moon”: the Full Moon times. USNO
- 15 U.S.C. § 260a — daylight saving time, used for the clock times. Cornell LII
Updated