Observing Guide
How to see the Moon better tonight
You do not need a telescope to enjoy the Moon, but a little know-how helps. When to look, what to look for, and how to get a sharp photo with your phone. Plus the best Moon nights this month for your place.
NASA, Artemis II crew (art002e014055), 6 Apr 2026. Public domain.
Best Moon nights this month
Gold stars mark the best evenings for craters, when the Moon is part-lit and high in the sky. Blue marks dark evenings for stars. Tap a day for times and what to look for.
Tip 1: full moon is the worst time for craters
It surprises most people: the full Moon is the hardest time to see craters. At full moon the Sun shines straight down on the side facing us, so there are no shadows and the surface looks flat and glaringly bright.
The best views are along the terminator, the line between lunar day and night. There, the Sun is low on the lunar horizon, and every crater rim and mountain casts a long shadow. The terminator moves every night, so the Moon shows you something new each evening.
Good times: a few days either side of first quarter (early evening) and last quarter (after midnight or before dawn). Thin crescents low in the twilight also show earthshine: the dark part of the Moon softly lit by sunlight reflected from Earth.
With your eyes
- Learn the "face": the dark patches are the maria, old lava plains. Find the Sea of Tranquillity, where Apollo 11 landed, and the Sea of Crises, a dark oval near the edge. The Surface page has a globe to practise on.
- Watch the bright rays around the crater Tycho near full moon: splashes of bright material thrown out about 100 million years ago.
- Follow the phases for a whole month. Notice the Moon rises about 50 minutes later each day on average.
- The Moon illusion: a rising Moon looks huge next to trees and roofs. Hold up a pea at arm's length and compare: it is the same size high in the sky.
With binoculars
Ordinary 7×50 or 10×50 binoculars are a fantastic Moon tool. They show dozens of craters, the mountain ranges along the terminator, and the dark and light patches of the seas.
- Rest your elbows on a wall or car roof, or lie back in a garden chair. Any shaking blurs the view.
- Look for the chain of three big craters Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina about 5 days after new moon, and the Apennine mountains near first quarter.
- On a crescent evening, try to see earthshine and the brighter craters inside it.
With a telescope
- Any small telescope works. Even a 60–80 mm refractor shows craters inside craters, mountain shadows and long winding rilles. Start with your lowest-power eyepiece, then zoom in.
- Let it cool down. Put the telescope outside 20–30 minutes before you observe so the air inside settles.
- Steady air matters more than magnification. If the Moon looks like it is "boiling", use lower power. Views are often steadiest when the Moon is high.
- Too bright? A neutral-density Moon filter, or a higher magnification, makes a gibbous Moon comfortable to look at.
- Targets: the Straight Wall (Rupes Recta), the Alpine Valley, Plato's dark floor, Copernicus's terraced walls, and the central peaks of Tycho and Theophilus. The calendar above suggests features for each night.
Photographing the Moon with your phone
- Steady the phone. Use a small tripod or rest it on something solid, and use the self-timer or a volume button so you do not shake it.
- Tap on the Moon, then drag the exposure down. Phones expose for the dark sky, so the Moon becomes a white blob. Lower the brightness until you can see the seas.
- Zoom with the telephoto lens, not much beyond its optical limit. Digital zoom softens the picture.
- Turn off night mode and flash for the Moon itself. Night mode is for moonlit landscapes.
- Shoot at dusk for a crescent above a landscape: the sky and Moon are closer in brightness.
- Through binoculars or a telescope: hold the phone camera right up to the eyepiece, centred, or use a cheap phone adapter clamp.
Some phone "Moon modes" use software to sharpen details the camera did not fully capture. For a true record, compare with a normal photo.
Moon events worth a look
- Conjunctions: the Moon passes near bright planets like Venus and Jupiter every month. Pretty with the naked eye.
- Occultations: sometimes the Moon passes in front of a bright star or planet, which blinks out at its edge. Very striking in a telescope.
- Lunar eclipses: see the Eclipses page for the next ones you can see.
- International Observe the Moon Night: once a year, usually in September or October, people around the world host Moon-watching events.
For rise and set times and directions on any date, use Where's the Moon?
Quick answers
When is the best time to look at the Moon with a telescope?
A few days either side of first quarter in the evening, or last quarter before dawn. Craters near the terminator (the day-night line) cast long shadows and look sharp. Full moon is bright but flat.
Can I see the Apollo landing sites with a telescope?
No. The landers are only a few metres across. Even the biggest telescopes on Earth cannot resolve them. You can see the areas where they landed, such as the Sea of Tranquillity, and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has photographed the hardware from orbit.
How do I take a sharp photo of the Moon with my phone?
Steady the phone on a tripod, tap on the Moon and lower the exposure, use the telephoto lens rather than heavy digital zoom, and turn off flash and night mode.
Is it bad for my eyes to look at the full Moon through a telescope?
It is not harmful, just dazzling. A Moon filter or higher magnification makes it more comfortable. Only the Sun is dangerous to look at.
What is earthshine?
The faint glow on the dark part of a crescent Moon. It is sunlight reflected off Earth onto the Moon and back to your eyes.
Sources and credits
- NASA Science, International Observe the Moon Night and observing guides.
- NASA Science, Moon phases.
- Astronomy Engine by Don Cross, github.com/cosinekitty/astronomy (MIT licence), used for the monthly calendar.
- Weather: Open-Meteo forecast and geocoding APIs (CC BY 4.0), only when you ask for them.
- Royal Museums Greenwich, How to observe the Moon.
Photos credited to NASA, NOAA and other public-domain sources are used with thanks; BotBuhdy adds a small botbuhdy.com mark. Pictures labelled AI-generated illustration are artist-style illustrations made for this page, not photographs.