Today’s lunar day opens at the current UTC minute and shows the interval between primary phases, the previous and next event, and elapsed time since New Moon. It is a snapshot of an instant, not a prediction for the day.
Why the universal day number was removed
The previous code divided a mean cycle of 29.530588853 days into equal 24-hour blocks. This was not verified as a specific traditional lunar-day system and should not be presented as a universal calendar. We instead show elapsed time since a published NASA New Moon. This is an arithmetic duration, without claims about Moonrise or Moon signs.
What “today” means
The initial instant is the current UTC minute. An IANA display zone changes the clock reading, not the instant. Use now refreshes it manually; it is not continuously updated. One phase can fall on different civil dates: the table’s New Moon on October 10, 2026 at 15:50 UT is 18:50 in Moscow and 05:50 on October 11 in Pacific/Kiritimati.
Data boundaries
Phases cover 2025–2030 using NASA/GSFC’s minute-resolution table. Resolution is not a guaranteed error of one minute: twelve selected 2026 checks against USNO differed by 0 or 1 minute. For civil display, UT is represented as UTC without a sub-minute correction. Illumination covers 2026 only, using the nearest published NASA SVS hour; the actual sample time is displayed rather than an invented value for your chosen minute.
No personal advice
Phase and illumination do not measure a person’s mood, shopping luck, procedure safety or negotiation outcomes. The former health, money and haircut advice is excluded from this factual service. Observing the Moon and traditional symbolism are separate tasks.
Need another date?
Open the monthly lunar calendar to select an instant, zone and event month, print a table or download ICS. Read the calendar guide for time and import rules.
Sources: Fred Espenak’s phase table, NASA/GSFC (Jean Meeus algorithms, 1998), NASA SVS 2026 (hourly illumination, DE421), and the USNO 2026 check table. Checked October 18, 2026.
