Lunar dashboard — phase, observing windows & astrophotography guidance
The Moon goes through a predictable cycle of phases every 29.5 days — from invisible New Moon to brilliant Full Moon and back. This dashboard tells you tonight's phase, when the Moon rises and sets, which lunar features to look for, and how the Moon affects your night-sky photography.
The Moon is the biggest enemy of deep-sky photography. A bright full moon washes out faint nebulae and galaxies — like trying to photograph stars in daylight. This panel tells you what targets are still worth shooting tonight.
Each cell shows the Moon's phase for that day. Emoji shows the phase shape. NM = New Moon (dark sky, best for astrophotography) · 1Q = First Quarter · FM = Full Moon (bright, poor for faint objects) · 3Q = Last Quarter. Hover any day for exact phase name and illumination.
