चन्द्रोदयः · candrodayaḥ
Moonrise Time Today
When the Moon clears the horizon where you are, how much of it is lit, and the tithi and nakshatra it rises in. Many vrats are broken only after moonrise, so this is the time to watch on fasting days.
Calculating for your place…
Calculated in your browser from the positions of the Sun and Moon — within about a minute of observatory tables. Your location never leaves your device. Times assume a flat horizon at sea level; hills or tall buildings delay what you actually see.
Moonrise for the next 10 days
For the place selected above, in its local time.
Fasts that end at moonrise
The fast for Ganesha is broken only after moonrise, with an arghya of water offered to the Moon.
Wives fast from dawn and break the fast after sighting the Moon, often through a sieve. Moonrise time decides how long the fast lasts.
The first sighting of the new crescent, low in the west just after sunset, is considered auspicious.
Kheer is left out under the light of the year's brightest-feeling full moon, said to carry nectar.
Why the Moon rises later every day
The Moon travels about 13° eastward around the sky each day, so the Earth has to turn a little further before it comes back over your horizon. On average moonrise is about 50 minutes later each day, but the gap swings between roughly 20 minutes and well over an hour, because the angle the Moon's path makes with the horizon changes through the month and the seasons. Near the September equinox the full moon rises only a little later on successive evenings — the "harvest moon" effect that gives several bright evenings in a row.
Phase and the time of moonrise
| Phase | Tithi | Rises around | Best seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| New moon | Amavasya | Sunrise | Not visible |
| Waxing crescent | Shukla 2–6 | Mid-morning | Western sky after sunset |
| First quarter | Shukla Ashtami | Around noon | Evening, high in the south |
| Full moon | Purnima | Around sunset | All night |
| Last quarter | Krishna Ashtami | Around midnight | Before dawn |
The Moon's names, and its sixteen kalas
Sanskrit has dozens of names for the Moon, most of them small descriptions:
Tradition divides the Moon into sixteen kalas, or digits. One is said to be gained each day of the bright fortnight and lost each day of the dark one, with the sixteenth, amrita kala, never lost — a poetic picture of the waxing and waning that each tithi measures exactly.
Frequently asked questions
What time is moonrise today?
Today's moonrise for your chosen city or location is shown at the top of this page, in that place's time zone. If there is no moonrise on today's date, the page says so and the table shows the next one.
Why is there no moonrise on some days?
Because moonrise is on average about 50 minutes later each day, it gradually moves through the clock. Roughly once every lunar month it slips past midnight, and that calendar day has no moonrise at all.
When is moonrise on Sankashti Chaturthi or Karva Chauth?
Choose your city above on the day of the fast — the moonrise shown is the time the fast can be broken. Remember to allow a few minutes for the Moon to climb above trees or buildings.
Does moonrise time change with location?
Yes, more than sunrise does. Within India it can differ by over half an hour between east and west, and by more between northern and southern cities, so always check for your own place.
How accurate is this moonrise time?
Within one to two minutes of standard astronomical tables for a flat horizon. The calculation includes the Moon's parallax and atmospheric refraction.