The Moon was in its Waxing Gibbous phase on Friday, May 29, 2026, with 91% of its face lit and a Blue Moon only a few nights away. For skywatchers, that meant a bright evening display before the next Full Moon arrived on May 31.
Lois Mackenzie noted the timing while pointing readers toward what could be seen in the night sky, and the date mattered because May was set to deliver two Full Moons. The lunar calendar also made the moment easy to place: the next Full Moon was due May 31, and the Blue Moon search was already building around that second full phase in the month.
That made Friday a useful night to look up. With the naked eye, viewers could spot Mare Imbrium, Aristarchus Plateau and the Kepler Crater. Binoculars brought Posidonius Crater, Archimedes Crater and the Clavius Crater into view, while a telescope could reveal the Caucasus Mountains, Descartes Highlands and the Schiller Crater. The Moon’s bright edge and shadow line gave the surface more shape than a full moon usually does.
The catch is that the Moon was not yet full on May 29, even with the Blue Moon only a few nights away. NASA says the Moon takes around 29.5 days to orbit Earth and moves through eight distinct phases, from New Moon to Waning Crescent, with the same side always facing Earth. That is why the bright disk on Friday was still Waxing Gibbous, not Full Moon, even as the calendar pointed to May 31.
For readers waiting on the rare second Full Moon of May, the answer was already in the sky: the build-up was underway, the phase was bright enough to show surface detail, and the next step came on May 31. The Blue Moon was close enough to plan for, but not close enough to call complete on Friday night.
