Moonrise, Moonset & Moon Phase in Boston
Tonight's moon times for Boston (42.3601°, -71.0589°) — America/New_York — plus every full moon of 2026.
Loading tonight's moon times…
Pick another date, or fine-tune the locationSet by latitude and the moon's 18.6-year cycle — true indefinitely, not just this year
- Moonrise arc
- 81°
- 50° NE to 131° SE
- Sunrise arc
- 65°
- The sun's whole range, for comparison
- Highest culmination
- 76°
- Above the horizon
- Lowest culmination
- 19°
- Always clears the horizon
Can the moon stay up all day in Boston? No. That needs a latitude past 61.4°, and Boston is 42.4°N — about 19° short — so the moon rises and sets on essentially every date. What does happen roughly once a month is a date with no moonrise, or no moonset: the moon comes up about 50 minutes later each day, and eventually one of the two slips past midnight.
All 13 of them, in America/New_York local time. A full moon is one instant worldwide, so the clock time is Boston's own.
| Full moon | Moonrise | Moonset | Rides highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, January 3 5:05 AM | 4:36 PM NE | 7:46 AM | 75° Jan 2, 11:36 PM |
| Sunday, February 1 5:11 PM | 4:47 PM ENE | 7:00 AM | 65° Feb 2, 12:16 AM |
| Tuesday, March 3 6:40 AM | 6:04 PM E | 6:18 AM | 56° Mar 2, 11:43 PM |
| Wednesday, April 1 10:14 PM | 7:03 PM E | 6:02 AM | 39° Apr 2, 12:48 AM |
| Friday, May 1 1:26 PM | 8:09 PM ESE | 5:11 AM | 26° May 2, 12:57 AM |
| Sunday, May 31 4:48 AM · farthest of 2026 | 9:07 PM SE | 4:48 AM | 21° May 31, 12:30 AM |
| Monday, June 29 7:59 PM | 8:43 PM SE | 4:21 AM | 21° Jun 30, 12:59 AM |
| Wednesday, July 29 10:38 AM | 8:25 PM ESE | 5:18 AM | 25° Jul 29, 12:34 AM |
| Friday, August 28 12:20 AM | 7:36 PM E | 6:26 AM | 38° Aug 28, 12:46 AM |
| Saturday, September 26 12:50 PM | 6:21 PM E | 6:27 AM | 55° Sep 27, 12:53 AM |
| Monday, October 26 12:13 AM | 5:42 PM ENE | 7:48 AM | 64° Oct 26, 12:22 AM |
| Tuesday, November 24 9:55 AM | 3:57 PM NE | 6:59 AM | 72° Nov 23, 10:59 PM |
| Wednesday, December 23 8:30 PM · nearest of 2026 | 3:39 PM NE | 7:00 AM | 75° Dec 23, 11:53 PM |
Reading the table. Moonrise and moonset are for the local date shown, which is what the calculator gives for that date. Rides highest is the altitude at the moon's culmination nearest the full-moon instant, and carries its own date: a full moon culminates within about half a day of the instant, so it lands on the day before roughly as often as the day after. "None" means that date genuinely has no moonrise (or no moonset), which happens about once a month everywhere.
2026's nearest full moon over Boston is Wednesday, December 23 at 356,740 km, and the farthest is Sunday, May 31 at 406,135 km — a 14% difference in distance, and so about that much difference in apparent width. The nearer one is what gets called a supermoon.
Moon times for Boston are computed from the full Meeus lunar theory — the complete 47.A and 47.B periodic tables — at the city's latitude (42.3601°) and longitude (-71.0589°), then converted to local time in the America/New_York timezone. Rise and set are found by sampling the moon's altitude across the day and bisecting each horizon crossing, because the moon moves about 13° a day and no single position describes it. Against US Naval Observatory tables the result agrees to the displayed minute.
Why moonrise has no fixed time. The moon travels eastward against the stars as it orbits, so the Earth has to turn a little further each day to bring it back to the horizon — about 50 minutes further. That is why a page of moon times for Boston cannot be written down the way sunrise times can: the cycle is 29.5 days long and does not fit the calendar. Roughly once a month a date in Boston has no moonrise at all, or no moonset, simply because the event slid past midnight. The calculator says so in words rather than leaving a blank.
The 18.6-year cycle. Moonrise in Boston is not a fixed direction. Over the moon's 18.6-year cycle the rise point sweeps 81° of horizon, from 50° NE at its northernmost to 131° SE at its southernmost. That is 16° wider than the sun ever manages from Boston, whose rise point is confined to 65° between the solstices — the moon's orbit is tilted a further 5.1° to the ecliptic, so it overshoots the sun's limits in both directions.
The moon's highest culmination over Boston reaches 76°, while at the other end it climbs no higher than 19°. Everything the moon does over Boston happens between those two figures, and neither of them shifts — they follow from the city's latitude and the tilt of the moon's orbit, not from the calendar.
What time does the moon rise in Boston tonight?
Tonight's moonrise, moonset and highest point for Boston are at the top of this page, computed in your browser for America/New_York. There is no single answer to keep on file: the moon rises roughly 50 minutes later each day, so tonight's time is about 50 minutes later than last night's and the whole cycle repeats only every 29.5 days — which is why this page's fixed reference is the geometry of Boston's horizon rather than a table of times.
When is the next full moon in Boston?
All 13 full moons of 2026 are listed above in Boston local time, from Saturday, January 3 to Wednesday, December 23. The panel at the top of the page shows the next one counting from today. A full moon is a single instant worldwide — the moment the moon is opposite the sun — so it lands at a different clock time in every timezone, and occasionally on a different calendar date.
How high does the moon get in Boston?
Between about 19° and 76° above the horizon at its highest point of the night. The wide spread is the moon's own doing: its orbit is tilted 5.1° to the ecliptic and the tilt swings around over 18.6 years, so the moon reaches both higher and lower over Boston than the sun ever does.
Does the moon ever stay up all day in Boston?
No. That needs a latitude past 61.4°, and Boston is 42.4°N — about 19° short — so the moon rises and sets on essentially every date. What does happen roughly once a month is a date with no moonrise, or no moonset: the moon comes up about 50 minutes later each day, and eventually one of the two slips past midnight.