What a new moon is
A new moon is the moment the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, lined up with the Sun as seen from the Earth. Its lit side faces away from us, so it can't be seen, and it rises and sets with the Sun. New moons come every 29.5 days on average and mark the start of each lunar month: many calendars, including the Chinese calendar, begin their months on the day of the new moon. The moment is the same everywhere on Earth; only the clock time changes, which is why this page gives every time in your own time zone.
The new moon in each sign
Because the Moon is lined up with the Sun at a new moon, it always falls in the same sign as the Sun. So each sign's new moon comes during its own season: the new moon in Aries in April, the new moon in Scorpio in late October or November. From one year to the next, each new moon lands about 11 days earlier in the calendar and about 11° further back in its sign, so the table of signs shifts a little every year.
Solar eclipses
A solar eclipse can only happen at a new moon, when the Moon passes in front of the Sun. There are two in 2026. On February 17 an annular eclipse, with a ring of Sun around the Moon, is seen over Antarctica. On August 12 the path of a total eclipse crosses Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain. In 2027 an annular eclipse falls on February 6, and on August 2 a total eclipse crosses southern Spain, North Africa and the Middle East, with more than six minutes of totality near Luxor, Egypt.
Black Moons and supermoons
A Black Moon is a second new moon in one calendar month. There is none in 2026; in 2027 August has two new moons, August 2 and August 31, so the second is a Black Moon. A new moon near the closest point of the Moon's orbit counts as a supermoon too, though a new moon can't be seen; the tables mark each one.
The new moon in astrology
Astrologers read the new moon as a beginning, the start of the Moon's monthly cycle and a traditional time for setting intentions. Its sign colors the reading: a new moon in Aries is read as a time for bold starts, a new moon in Taurus for building something that lasts. These are readings from tradition, not predictions, and moon sign today follows the Moon through every sign between one new moon and the next.
How the dates are calculated
Every new moon is found from the site's own ephemeris, the same one behind every chart here, and it agrees with the Swiss Ephemeris within two minutes for every new, first-quarter, full and last-quarter moon tested. Distances and eclipses come from the Astronomy Engine library. Black Moons and the dates in the text follow US Eastern time; the tables give every moment to the minute in your own time zone.