Published 1 January 2025 · 4 min read

Full Moon Dates 2025 — Complete Lunar Calendar

Maybe you're a photographer planning a night shoot and you need to know when the sky's going to be lit up. Maybe you're a gardener who follows lunar planting guides (no judgement — plenty of people swear by it). Or maybe you just looked out the window tonight, saw a spectacular moon, and thought "when's the next one?" Whatever brought you here, we've got every full moon and new moon date for 2025 laid out below.

Full moon dates 2025

Month	Full Moon Date	Traditional Name
January	13 January	Wolf Moon
February	12 February	Snow Moon
March	14 March	Worm Moon
April	13 April	Pink Moon
May	12 May	Flower Moon
June	11 June	Strawberry Moon
July	10 July	Buck Moon
August	9 August	Sturgeon Moon
September	7 September	Harvest Moon
October	7 October	Hunter's Moon
November	5 November	Beaver Moon
December	4 December	Cold Moon

New moon dates 2025

Month	New Moon Date
January	29 January
February	28 February
March	29 March
April	27 April
May	27 May
June	25 June
July	24 July
August	23 August
September	21 September
October	21 October
November	20 November
December	20 December

Understanding the 29.5-day cycle

The Moon takes roughly 29.5 days to orbit the Earth — that's called a synodic month, if you want the technical term. During each cycle, it passes through eight phases: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent. You've probably noticed most of these without knowing their names.

A full moon happens when Earth sits between the Sun and the Moon, so the whole face we can see gets lit up. A new moon is the opposite — the Moon's between us and the Sun, which makes it basically invisible in the night sky. New moons are brilliant for stargazing because there's no moonlight washing out the fainter stars and galaxies.

What are supermoons?

You've probably seen the term "supermoon" in the news and wondered if it's actually a real thing. It is, sort of. The Moon's orbit around Earth isn't a perfect circle — it's slightly oval-shaped (an ellipse). When a full moon happens to coincide with the Moon being at its closest point to Earth (called perigee), it looks about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than a full moon at its furthest point.

Honestly? The size difference is hard to spot with the naked eye unless you're comparing photos side by side. But supermoons do tend to look more impressive, especially near the horizon. They're worth setting an alarm for if you're into photography.

Traditional full moon names (and where they come from)

Each month's full moon has a traditional name, mostly rooted in Native American, Colonial American, and European folklore. They're lovely, and once you learn them, you'll never forget them:

• Wolf Moon (January) — named for the wolves howling during the coldest, darkest midwinter nights. Atmospheric stuff.
• Snow Moon (February) — February tends to bring the heaviest snowfall across the Northern Hemisphere. Pretty self-explanatory.
• Worm Moon (March) — as the ground thaws in early spring, earthworms start appearing. It's a sign that warmer days are on the way.
• Pink Moon (April) — named after phlox, one of the first pink wildflowers to bloom in spring. The moon itself doesn't turn pink, sadly.
• Flower Moon (May) — everything's in bloom by May. Gardens are looking their best, and so is this full moon.
• Strawberry Moon (June) — named for the short strawberry harvesting season. Perfect timing if you're picking your own.
• Buck Moon (July) — male deer start growing new antlers around this time, covered in soft velvety fur.
• Sturgeon Moon (August) — named after the large freshwater sturgeon that were easiest to catch during August.
• Harvest Moon (September) — this is the famous one. The full moon closest to the autumn equinox gave farmers extra light to bring in their crops after sunset. Genuinely useful, not just poetic.
• Hunter's Moon (October) — after the harvest cleared the fields, hunters could more easily spot animals fattening up for winter.
• Beaver Moon (November) — beavers are busy preparing for winter, and historically this was when trappers set their traps before waterways froze.
• Cold Moon (December) — the long, dark December nights mark the arrival of proper winter cold. Hard to argue with the name.

Practical uses for moon phase tracking

Photography: Photographing the Moon is rewarding but takes a bit of know-how. For close-up shots showing craters and detail, you'll want a telephoto lens of at least 200mm (400mm or more is even better), manual mode, and the "looney 11" rule — aperture f/11, ISO 100, shutter speed around 1/125 second. The Moon is far brighter than you'd think, and auto exposure will completely overexpose it. For landscape moon shots, the golden hour just after moonrise is your best friend. The Moon looks bigger near the horizon, and the warm light creates gorgeous compositions.

Fishing: Many anglers plan trips around the lunar cycle. Full and new moons produce stronger tidal movements, which tends to make fish more active. It's not guaranteed, but plenty of experienced anglers won't book a trip without checking the moon phase first.

Gardening: Lunar planting might sound a bit old-fashioned, but it's got a surprisingly dedicated following. The general idea is that you plant above-ground crops during the waxing moon (between new and full) and root crops during the waning moon (between full and new). Whether it actually makes a difference is debated, but many allotment holders and gardeners follow it religiously.

Tides: The Moon's gravitational pull is what drives our tides. Full and new moons produce spring tides (the biggest tidal range), while quarter moons give you neap tides (the smallest range). If you're a coastal walker, sailor, or surfer, knowing the moon phase helps you plan your day.

Tips for moon watching

• Full moons are spectacular, but don't overlook crescent moons — especially when you can see earthshine, that faint glow on the dark part of the Moon caused by sunlight bouncing off Earth.
• The Moon looks biggest when it's near the horizon. This is actually an optical illusion, but it makes for brilliant photos.
• New moons are the best time for stargazing and astrophotography — no moonlight means darker skies.
• Use a moonrise calculator to plan where the Moon will appear in relation to landmarks. Getting the Moon rising behind a church spire or mountain makes for a much more compelling shot than Moon-in-empty-sky.

Common mistake: confusing moon phases with lunar eclipses

A full moon and a lunar eclipse aren't the same thing, even though eclipses only happen during full moons. Most full moons pass above or below Earth's shadow without anything unusual happening. A lunar eclipse occurs only when the alignment is spot-on and the Moon passes through Earth's shadow. So while every lunar eclipse happens at a full moon, the vast majority of full moons are perfectly ordinary.

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