August 2025 Hosts Rare Black Moon

A Seasonal Black Moon

In August 2025, the New Moon will be what’s known as a seasonal Black Moon—a relatively uncommon calendrical event.

This type of Black Moon refers to the third New Moon in an astronomical season of four New Moons (instead of the usual three). This rare event occurs around once every 33 months. The next one will happen on August 20, 2028—which will also be a Supermoon.

This year, most of the world will experience the seasonal Black Moon on August 23, but in regions far behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), it will be the day before, on August 22.

Can You See the Black Moon?

Since the Black Moon is a New Moon, it won’t be visible in the sky at all.

During this lunar phase, the Moon lies between Earth and the Sun, with its unlit side facing us. It also rises and sets around the same time as the Sun, meaning it’s too close to its bright glare to be seen.

In fact, you can only see a New Moon during a solar eclipse—and even then, only with proper safety equipment, such as eclipse glasses, to avoid permanent eye damage.

The most recent visible Black Moon occurred during the solar eclipse on April 30, 2022—a monthly Black Moon. Before that, a seasonal Black Moon was visible from Earth during the Great American Eclipse on August 21, 2017.

A Perfect Time for Stargazing

With the Moon absent from the night sky, this Black Moon, like all New Moons, presents the chance for dark skies, which is great news for stargazers!

If you’re lucky, you might have a chance to catch the very end of the Perseid Meteor Shower, which will finish around August 24.

Who Gets the Black Moon on August 22?

People living in time zones from UTC−7 to UTC−12 will experience the New Moon before midnight on August 22, meaning the Black Moon will fall a day earlier than most of the world. These locations include parts of:

• Western US
• Western Canada
• Alaska and Hawaii
• Northwestern Mexico
• American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia

Who Gets the Black Moon on August 23?

For the rest of the world, in time zones from UTC−6 to UTC+14, the Black Moon will occur after midnight on August 23, including parts of:

• Eastern and Central US
• Canada and Mexico
• Central and South America
• Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand

Why Different Dates?

Because the New Moon occurs at an exact universal time, in this case, 06:06 UTC on August 23, the local calendar date of the event depends on your time zone.

What Is a Black Moon?

Like the Blue Moon—its Full Moon counterpart—the term Black Moon is a way of classifying calendar-based lunar events involving Moon phases.

In August 2025, we’ll experience a seasonal Black Moon, but there are two other types of Black Moon:

• The monthly Black Moon is when two New Moons occur in a single calendar month, with the second New Moon considered the Black Moon. This phenomenon is slightly more common than the seasonal Black Moon, occurring roughly once every 29 months on average.
• The Black Moon in February is a much rarer event that happens when there is either no New Moon or no Full Moon in February. It can only occur in February because it’s the only calendar month shorter than a lunar month, which lasts about 29.5 days. This type of Black Moon occurs once around every 19 years.

Don’t Miss It!

Even though the Black Moon can’t be seen in the sky, like all New Moons, it offers an excellent opportunity for stargazing. So don’t miss the chance to look up at the dark, star-filled night sky on August 22/23.