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Moon Phases API

GET

Show the moon's phase, illumination, and lunar distance.

Moon Phases calculates the current lunar phase, illumination percentage, and lunar age for today. It reports waxing or waning status, Earth-moon distance in Earth radii and kilometers, the next principal phase and emoji representations, while paid plans add custom date queries and the dates of the next new moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter.

Try it — live request, no key required

Request
GETapi.apiverve.com/v1/moonphases
Verification
Format

No key required to try it. Get a key to use it in your app.

Example
{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "date": "2026-10-27",
    "phase": "Full",
    "phaseEmoji": "🌕",
    "illumination": 98.8,
    "waxing": false,
    "waning": true,
    "lunarAge": 15.775469393347242,
    "lunarAgePercent": 0.534207769602574,
    "lunationNumber": 1285,
    "lunarDistance": 57.48396905317442,
    "nextFullMoon": "2026-11-24T17:29:23.611Z",
    "lastFullMoon": "2026-10-26T04:45:20.833Z",
    "daysToFullMoon": 29,
    "daysSinceFullMoon": 1,
    "lunarDistanceKm": 366230,
    "nextPhase": "Last Quarter",
    "nextPhaseDate": "2026-11-02T13:56:21.527Z",
    "daysToNextPhase": 6,
    "nextNewMoon": "2026-11-09T23:07:22.222Z",
    "lastNewMoon": "2026-10-11T10:23:19.444Z",
    "daysToNewMoon": 14,
    "daysSinceNewMoon": 16,
    "nextFirstQuarter": "2026-11-17T08:18:22.916Z",
    "nextLastQuarter": "2026-11-02T13:56:21.527Z"
  }
}

About the Moon Phases API

A moon phase and lunar phase API that returns the phases of the moon as JSON, with an emoji icon for each phase you can drop straight into a weather or calendar UI. Moon Phases works by calculating the moon phase based on the date provided. Every response names the next principal phase, and paid plans add when it arrives plus the next and last new moon, the next first and last quarters, and the next and last full moon, all from the mean lunar month, so they are approximate to within about a day.

What people use it for

Night Sky Photography
Astrophotographers check lunar illumination and waxing status to schedule dark-sky Milky Way shoots around the new moon.
Biodynamic Planting Calendars
Gardening software aligns root and above-ground crop sowing schedules using lunar cycle progression and current lunar age.
Stargazing Event Planning
When planning evening telescope sessions, observatory guides inspect illumination percentages to schedule viewing nights under pitch-black skies.
Fishing Forecast Dashboards
Forecast peak feeding activity by pairing lunation numbers and waxing indicators with local marine tables in fishing apps.

Without writing code

The Moon Phases widget from WidgetSpark shows tonight's moon on your desktop.

Ways to call it

One endpoint, many ways in — REST with JSON, XML, YAML and CSV, plus GraphQL and an MCP interface for AI agents.

JSON
Default REST response
XML
Markup format
YAML
Human-readable
CSV
Tabular export
Beta
GraphQL
Query language
New
MCP
For AI agents

Other ways to use Moon Phases

Same data, same APIVerve account, same credit balance — one key works on all of them.

Questions.

Common questions about the Moon Phases API.

Read the docs →
Which plan fits 20,000 moon phase lookups a month?
Starter easily covers that volume. Each query uses 2 credits, meaning 20,000 lookups consume 40,000 of the 200,000 monthly credits on Starter. That volume works out to about $0.30 per 1,000 calls. The Free plan provides 100 calls each month for testing.
Can I check full moon and new moon dates on the Free plan?
No, phase dates require a paid plan. The next and last full moon and days until or since it are premium fields, and phases=true adds the next and last new moon, the next first and last quarter, the date of the next phase and the days until or since each. Querying specific dates also requires a paid plan, while the Free plan returns today's phase, illumination, lunar age, distance and the name of the next principal phase.
What lunar details are returned besides the phase name?
Calls return the phase name alongside approximate illumination percentage, a matching phase emoji, waxing and waning flags, and the moon's age in days. You also receive the lunar cycle percentage, lunation number counting from 1923, and lunar distance measured in Earth radii.
What date format does the lookup endpoint expect?
On paid plans, the date parameter requires the MM-DD-YYYY format, such as 01-01-2022. If you only need current conditions rather than a historical or future date, call the today endpoint directly instead of passing a formatted date string.
Can I use the lunar data in a commercial gardening or astrology app?
Yes, commercial use is allowed on any paid plan. You can display moon phases, lunar distance, and cycle calculations directly inside your consumer product. Redistributing or reselling the raw API response as a standalone data service is prohibited.

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