Full and new moons 2027

Each month of 2027 holds one full moon, from January 22 to December 13. The gap between two full moons runs from 29.46 days to 29.66 days, because the Moon speeds up and slows down along its orbit. The full moons of February 20, April 20, June 19, September 15, and November 14 fall in the first or last five hours of the UTC day, so zones far from UTC read them a day earlier or later. For February 20, June 19, and September 15, a zone only one hour from UTC already changes the date. That is why two lists can disagree by a day.

A new moon is the moment when the Moon and the Sun stand at the same longitude in the sky. The year has 13 of them, from January 7 to December 27, and August holds two, on August 2 and August 31. The table lists the four principal phases only, because the crescent and gibbous stages have no exact moment. Astrologers read a new moon as a time to begin and a full moon as a high point. That reading is tradition, not measurement.

The Harvest Moon is the full moon nearest the September equinox. In 2027 the equinox is on September 23. The full moon of September 15 is 7.3 days before it and the one of October 15 is 22.3 days after it, so the first is the Harvest Moon. The rule follows the equinox, so in other years the name can go to an October full moon.

That depends on the definition. By the monthly count, a Blue Moon is the second full moon of one calendar month, and by that count 2027 has no Blue Moon, because its 12 full moons fall one in each month.

By the seasonal count, a Blue Moon is the third of four full moons in one season, with seasons running from an equinox or solstice to the next. The season from the March equinox on March 20 to the June solstice on June 21 holds four full moons: March 22, April 20, May 20, and June 19. By the seasonal count, the full moon of May 20 is a Blue Moon.

The new moons on February 6 and August 2 carry a solar eclipse, and the full moons on February 20, July 18, and August 17 carry a lunar eclipse. These 5 New Moons and Full Moons are flagged in the Note column. Most full and new moons carry none, because the orbit of the Moon is tilted against the path of Earth round the Sun.