What is the Moon doing in September?

The Moon in January

The Moon in February

The Moon in March

The Moon in April

The Moon in May

The Moon in June

The Moon in July

The Moon in August

The Moon in September

The Moon in October

The Moon in November

The Moon in December


In general, we can tell what the Moon will look like, when it will be visible, and in what direction to look for it, just by working out how many days it is since New Moon.  The details are here.

But we can predict this more accurately by noticing that the Moon mimics, every month, the way the Sun behaves over the course of a whole year.


Here is a schematic diagram of how the Moon behaves in September.

moon's path in September

At New Moon, the Moon behaves like the Sun in September. It's heading southwards, so it spends less time above the horizon every day. The time of moonrise gets much later every day; the time of moonset doesn't change much from one night to the next. So we have to wait a long time before we can see the crescent Moon after sunset.

The crescent Moon behaves like the Sun in late autumn.

The First-Quarter Moon behaves like the Sun in December (3 months forward). It only spends a few hours each day above the horizon, rising in the south-east and setting in the south-west.

The waxing gibbous Moon behaves like the Sun in late winter.

The Full Moon behaves like the Sun in March (opposite to the September Sun). It's moving northwards, so it spends longer above the horizon every day. The time of moonrise doesn't change much from one night to the next.

The waning gibbous Moon behaves like the Sun in late spring.

The Last-Quarter Moon behaves like the Sun in June (3 months ago). It is above the horizon for many hours of each day, rising in the north-east and setting in the north-west.

The waning "crescent" Moon behaves like the Sun in late summer.

On any date, if you know how many days it is since New Moon: multiply that by twelve, and add it to the present date, to find out roughly where the Moon will be in its cycle.


However, the Moon doesn't follow the Sun's path exactly. To find out what difference that makes, try clicking here.

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