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4h ago

Black Moon Arrives, Darkening Skies for Stargazers

The informal term denotes the third new moon of a four‑new‑moon season, yielding darker skies for stargazing.

The moon pictured was seen over Karaman, Turkiye, on August 14, 2025. It is not a black moon (Photo by Ömer Tarsuslu/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Birds fly through the sky as the new moon is seen behind during early evening time in Poonch on Monday Aug. 29, 2022.
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Overview

  • The new moon occurred at about 2:06 a.m. ET on Saturday, August 23, 2025, according to EarthSky and the U.S. Naval Observatory, rendering the Moon invisible by definition.
  • This instance fits the seasonal usage in which the June–September period contains four new moons and the third is labeled a black moon.
  • Astronomers emphasize that the label is folkloric rather than official, with varying definitions that also include the second new moon in a calendar month.
  • With no lunar glare, observers have improved conditions for the Perseid meteor shower’s final nights and for faint targets such as the Milky Way and the Dumbbell Nebula.
  • The lunation starts an eclipse window featuring a total lunar eclipse on September 7 and a partial solar eclipse on September 22, with the next monthly black moon expected on August 31, 2027, and the next seasonal one on August 20, 2028.