{"id":29690,"date":"2026-08-06T09:59:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T04:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29690"},"modified":"2026-08-06T09:59:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T04:59:26","slug":"moon-phase-today-explained-what-the-moon-will-look-like-on-august-6-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29690","title":{"rendered":"Moon phase today explained: What the Moon will look like on August 6, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article\">\n<p>It&#8217;s a new lunar phase tonight, the Third Quarter, which means the Moon is now halfway between the Full Moon and New Moon phases. During this stage, exactly half of the Moon&#8217;s surface appears illuminated from Earth,<\/p>\n<h2>What is today\u2019s Moon phase?<\/h2>\n<p>As of Thursday, Aug. 6,  <a href=\"https:\/\/moon.nasa.gov\/moon-observation\/daily-moon-guide\/?intent=011#1767622046258::0::\" target=\"_blank\" data-ga-click=\"1\" data-ga-label=\"$text\" data-ga-item=\"text-link\" data-ga-module=\"content_body\" title=\"(opens in a new window)\">NASA&#8217;s Daily Moon Guide<\/a> tracker tells us the <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/ispace-moon-lander-south-pole-image\" target=\"_blank\" data-ga-click=\"1\" data-ga-label=\"$text\" data-ga-item=\"text-link\" data-ga-module=\"content_body\">Moon<\/a> phase is in the Third Quarter phase, with 48% of its surface visible. <\/p>\n<p>Without any visual aids tonight, there&#8217;s still a chance of seeing the Oceanus Procellarum, the Copernicus Crater, and the Tycho Crater. If you have a pair of binoculars, these will help you see the Gassendi and Clavius Craters and the Mare Humorum. If you have access to a telescope, you&#8217;ll also be able to see the Schiller Crater and the Fra Mauro Highlands.<\/p>\n<h2>When is the next Full Moon?<\/h2>\n<p>The next Full Moon will take place on August 28.<\/p>\n<h2>What are Moon phases?<\/h2>\n<p>The Moon&#8217;s appearance changes throughout the month as it orbits Earth, completing one full lunar cycle approximately every 29.5 days, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" data-ga-click=\"1\" data-ga-label=\"$text\" data-ga-item=\"text-link\" data-ga-module=\"content_body\" title=\"(opens in a new window)\">NASA<\/a>. During that journey, the positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon are constantly shifting, altering how much of the Moon&#8217;s illuminated surface is visible from our perspective. That&#8217;s why we see the familiar sequence of phases, from a slim crescent to a half Moon, then a Full Moon, before the pattern begins again.<\/p>\n<p>The eight phases are:<\/p>\n<section x-data=\"window.newsletter({ isDeal: false })\" x-init=\"init()\" aria-label=\"Newsletter Sign-Up\" class=\"relative invisible my-12 mx-auto w-full max-w-3xl md:my-16 ziff-component accent-cut-for-gradient-bg accent-cut-border-for-gradient-bg bg-gradient-fuchsia-secondary p-[2px]\">\n<p>\n            <span class=\"text-gradient-fuchsia-secondary\">Mashable Light Speed<\/span>\n        <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>New Moon &#8211; The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it&#8217;s invisible to the eye).<\/p>\n<p>Waxing Crescent &#8211; A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).<\/p>\n<p>First Quarter &#8211; Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.<\/p>\n<p>Waxing Gibbous &#8211; More than half is lit up, but it\u2019s not quite full yet.<\/p>\n<p>Full Moon &#8211; The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.<\/p>\n<p>Waning Gibbous &#8211; The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)<\/p>\n<p>Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) &#8211; Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.<\/p>\n<p>Waning Crescent &#8211; A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s a new lunar phase tonight, the Third Quarter, which means the Moon is now halfway between the Full Moon and New Moon phases. During this stage, exactly half of the Moon&#8217;s surface appears illuminated from Earth, What is today\u2019s Moon phase? As of Thursday, Aug. 6, NASA&#8217;s Daily Moon Guide tracker tells us the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/helios-i.mashable.com\/imagery\/articles\/014fYmaz6TclwMgzUktDD7E\/hero-image.fill.size_1200x675.v1785758514.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}