Tonight’s Moon will look almost full—94% lit—but it’s already slipping toward the third quarter.
Key points
- The Moon on Oct. 28 2026 is 94 % illuminated and in a waning gibbous phase.
- Visible features range from Tycho crater (naked eye) to the Apollo 12 site (telescope).
- The lunar cycle lasts about 29.5 days; the next full Moon is on Nov. 24 2026.
According to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide, the Moon on Wednesday, Oct. 28 2026 is in a waning gibbous phase, with roughly 94 % of its near side illuminated. The bright disk will dominate the night sky, though it is gradually shrinking as it moves toward the third‑quarter phase.
Without any aids you should be able to pick out the prominent Tycho and Copernicus craters as well as the Mare Imbrium. Binocular users will also catch the Posidonius crater, Mare Humorum and the Grimaldi Basin, while a modest telescope can reveal the Apollo 12 landing site, the Rupes Altai scarp and the Caucasus Mountains on the lunar surface.
What the sky will show on Oct. 28
The Moon completes an orbit around Earth in about 29.5 days, cycling through eight distinct phases that repeat each month. As the Moon’s position shifts relative to Earth and the Sun, the portion of its sun‑lit side that we can see changes, producing the familiar sequence of new, crescent, quarter, gibbous and full phases.
The next full Moon after this waning gibbous will occur on Nov. 24 2026, giving stargazers a chance to see the Moon at 100 % illumination before the cycle starts anew.
How the lunar cycle works
All of these details come from Mashable’s “Moon phase today explained” article, which draws on NASA’s publicly available moon‑tracking data.
Reader questions
What does “waning gibbous” mean?
It describes a Moon that is more than half illuminated but is decreasing in visible size as it moves toward the third‑quarter phase.
When is the next full Moon after Oct. 28 2026?
The next full Moon will be on November 24 2026.
What lunar features can I see without a telescope tonight?
With the naked eye you can spot Tycho crater, Copernicus crater and the Mare Imbrium.
Source: mashable.com
