You can find more moon phase details on both of the websites used in this post by clicking on each hyperlink.

Source: nineplanets.org

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The Moon phase for January 20th, 2026 is a Waxing Crescent phase. This is the phase where the moon started to become visible again after the New Moon.

In this part of the moon cycle, the Moon is moving away from the Sun and is becoming more and more illuminated by sunlight. In this phase, the moon will go from 0.1% to 49.9% illuminated before reaching the First Quarter phase.

In the Waxing Crescent phase the moon rises before noon in the east, transits the meridian before sunset, before setting in the west before midnight.

The Waxing Crescent phase, like all moon phases, will last for just over 7 days. The actual length will vary because of the elliptical shaped orbit of the moon. The moon is close to the Sun in the sky and the right edge will become brighter as it approaches 50% illumination and the First Quarter phase

Fun fact: 

Phase Details

Phase: Waxing Crescent

Moon age: 1.35 days

Moon illumination: 2.34%

Moon tilt: 117.716°

Moon angle: 0.51

Moon distance: 390,489.56 km

Moon sign: Aquarius

Source: MoonGiant.com

You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious, you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else was born.

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Visit the January 2026 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waxing Crescent Phase

The Waxing Crescent on January 20 has an illumination of 4%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On January 20 the Moon is 1.83 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.

Phase Details