A waxing gibbous moon appears more than half lighted, but less than full. It rises before sundown and sets somewhere between midnight and dawn. The coming full moon – Hunter’s Moon for the Northern Hemisphere – is October 24.

A 1st quarter moon is high up at sunset. You see it half-illuminated, like half a pie. Really, you’re seeing half the moon’s day side.

Many people report seeing earthshine on a waxing crescent moon. That’s when the darkened portion of the crescent glows dimly with light reflected from Earth.

New moon is October 9, 2018, at 03:47 UTC. That’s October 8 at 11:47 p.m. EDT. The moon is crossing the sky with the sun during the day now. The difference between new moons and young moons, here.

A waning crescent moon is up in the east before sunrise. It’s waning toward new moon, when the moon will be between the Earth and sun.

You’ll find this last quarter moon ascending in the east around midnight tonight. It’s is the 1st of two last quarter moons this month.

It’s a moon between full and last quarter. Last full moon was September 24-25. Next last quarter moon will be October 2. Watch for the waning gibbous moon from late night through early morning.

Half the moon always faces us. And half the moon is always lit by the sun. But, in the language of astronomers, there are no ‘half moons.’