First Quarter Moon
Decisiveness · Action · Obstacles
The First Quarter Moon is the point one quarter of the way through the lunar cycle, when exactly half the disc is lit and still growing. In the Northern Hemisphere the lit half is on the right; south of the equator it is the left.
It rises around noon, is highest in the sky at sunset and sets around midnight — which makes it the easiest phase to see in the early evening, high overhead while the sky is still light. Everyday speech usually calls this a half moon, and that is a perfectly good description of the shape; “quarter” counts the position in the cycle, not the fraction of the disc.
Where the First Quarter falls in the lunar cycle
The First Quarter is the third of the eight phases and the first of the two quarter-points. It arrives about seven days after the New Moon, closing the Waxing Crescent, and gives way to the Waxing Gibbous immediately after — from here the disc grows past half toward the Full Moon a week later.
Why is it called a quarter when it looks like a half?
Because the name counts the cycle, not the disc. A quarter moon marks a quarter-turn through the 29.5-day lunar month — First Quarter is one quarter of the way through, Third Quarter is three quarters of the way.
What you see is a half-lit disc, and “half moon” is a perfectly good everyday name for it. Astronomy just names the moment rather than the shape.
The same logic explains a question people often ask: if there is a first and a third quarter, where are the second and fourth? They exist as points in the cycle — the second quarter-point is the Full Moon and the fourth is the New Moon — they simply are not called quarters, because those two have better names.
When is the First Quarter Moon visible?
Early evening. The First Quarter rises around noon, is highest in the sky at sunset and sets around midnight — so it is already high overhead when the sky starts to darken, which makes it the least effortful phase to catch.
It is also the best phase for a first look through binoculars or a small telescope: the terminator runs straight down the middle of the disc, and that is where crater shadows are longest and detail is sharpest.
First Quarter in Aquarius
When is the next First Quarter?
The next First Quarter is on .
First Quarter Calendar
What does a First Quarter Moon mean in astrology?
In astrology, the First Quarter is read as the moment of friction. The Sun and Moon sit at a square — ninety degrees apart — and that angle is the whole of its symbolism: what you decided at the New Moon meets the first real obstacle, and the phase is about pushing through rather than reconsidering.
Astrologers traditionally treat it as a crisis of action: the point where an intention either gets defended or quietly dropped. The sign the Moon occupies colors what the obstacle looks like, and the house it falls in points to the area of life where it shows up.
What to do during a First Quarter Moon
This is the phase for pushing, not planning. Whatever you started at the New Moon has run into its first real resistance by now — a cost, a doubt, a person who disagrees — and the useful work is deciding whether to keep going.
In practice that means making the call rather than deferring it. The friction is the point of this phase, not a sign you chose wrong.
It is also the natural moment to adjust scope. Committing to less, done properly, beats carrying an oversized plan to the Full Moon and finishing none of it.
A simple First Quarter ritual
- reconsider your desires
- define the most important goals and dreams
- add corrections to your plans
- specify the goals that get most personal response from you
Moon Photos from Around the World
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First Quarter 65.6%
Lunar Day 10 in Aquarius
First Quarter 63.2%
Lunar Day 10 in Aquarius
First Quarter 62.9%
Lunar Day 10 in Aquarius
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