Earth's Moon: Formation, Composition and Orbit
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Latest about moon phases
![a transparent ram is angled head-down on the right, with the transparent limbs of an unidentifiable beast splashing out of a layer of transparent water on the left half. Stars within the transparencies are connected with blue lines to indicate constellation shapes. A bright yelllow/white star in the center is neighbored to the immediate upper right by the black circle of a new moon, and bisected diagonally from the upper left.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sXeQLqgPqJGDkak3W59a4V-320-80.jpg)
New moon of May 2024 tonight welcomes the stars of summer
By Jesse Emspak published
The new moon of May 2024 will see the bright constellations of summer begin to rise just as those of winter sink below the horizon.
![a bright full moon in the night sky](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/z46tBMVRUamXXVJec3R2RJ-320-80.jpg)
May full moon 2024: The Flower Moon crosses the Scorpion's Heart
By Jesse Emspak last updated
Reference The Full Flower Moon of May 2024 will see the moon pass in front of the red star Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius, the Scorpion.
![a bright full moon in the sky](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nQDkuLcotC3UModg9FVqQi-320-80.jpg)
April full moon 2024: The Pink Moon joins Mars and Saturn in the night sky
By Jesse Emspak last updated
The full moon of April 2024, called the Pink Moon, will occur during the evening hours of April 23. Later that night, Mars and Saturn will rise in the predawn hours.
![photo of a solar eclipse, showing the moon's dark outline blocking out the sun](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UKzs8JJGHkt5hbfzHPfSqZ-320-80.jpg)
New moon phase on April 8 will bring on the 2024 total solar eclipse
By Jesse Emspak published
This month's new moon, which occurs on April 8, is a special one: It will cause a total solar eclipse, the last such event to grace the contiguous United States for two decades.
![a bright moon rises above the ruins of a castle](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NPHLKontxqHUMpdGgz8dSc-320-80.jpg)
March full moon 2024: The Worm Moon gets eclipsed
By Jesse Emspak last updated
Reference The full moon of March 2024, the Worm Moon, will experience a penumbral lunar eclipse as it passes through the outer part of Earth's shadow.
![a half-shaded moon hangs large in the sky.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mGNa2GDcUJjJHCvoKAMuSc-320-80.jpg)
See the last half moon of 2023 swim with the fish of Pisces tonight
By Brett Tingley published
The moon reaches its first quarter moon phase on Dec. 19, crossing the sky in the Pisces constellation as the last half-moon of 2023.
![green lines indicate the paths of the moon and mars across the night sky, through the constellation libra](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qZsNMgiN9bpQMYfiBnKrcA-320-80.jpg)
November's new moon lets the winter constellations shine bright tonight
By Jesse Emspak published
November is when the winter constellations of the Northern Hemisphere become more prominent; it's the time of year when Orion, Taurus and Gemini are visible almost all night long.
![an orange moon rises from behind the top of a dark hill, shining through the scaffolding frame of a domed observatory.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vak9nMzXpdMkFTPq5aCYRQ-320-80.jpg)
See the world's largest telescope dwarfed by the Full Hunter's Moon (photo)
By Samantha Mathewson published
The steel skeleton of the world's largest visible- and infrared-light telescope is illuminated by the rising full moon in a gorgeous new photo from the European Southern Observatory.
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