Six Millennium Catalog of Phases of the Moon

Moon Phases from -1999 to +4000 (2000 BCE to 4000 CE)
Fred Espenak


The two tables below contain links to a series of pages giving the phases of the Moon for the 6,000-year period -1999 to +4000 (2000 BCE to 4000 CE). Each page covers a century and lists the date and time (Universal Time) of the Moon's phases during that 100-year period. This data is provided primarily to assist in historical research projects. For the year 2000, the length of the mean synodic month (New Moon to New Moon) is 29.530588 days (=29d12h44m03s). However, the length of any one synodic month can vary from 29.26 to 29.80 days due to the perturbing effects of the Sun's gravity on the Moon's eccentric orbit. For example, see Length of the Synodic Month: 2001 to 2100.

Each 100-year table of lunar phases also indicates when an eclipse of the Sun or Moon takes place. An eclipse of the Sun can occur only at New Moon, while an eclipse of the Moon can occur only at Full Moon.

Historians should note that the astronomical dating system used in these tables includes the year "0" while the traditional BCE - CE dating convention does not. Thus, the year "0" here corresponds to "1 BCE", the year "-100" is "101 BCE", and so on. The old style Julian calendar is used for dates prior to 1582, while the modern Gregorian calendar is used after that date. For more information, see calendar dates.

Moon Phases in Common Era (CE)
Links to
Century
Tables
0001 - 0100 0101 - 0200 0201 - 0300 0301 - 0400 0401 - 0500
0501 - 0600 0601 - 0700 0701 - 0800 0801 - 0900 0901 - 1000
1001 - 1100 1101 - 1200 1201 - 1300 1301 - 1400 1401 - 1500
1501 - 1600 1601 - 1700 1701 - 1800 1801 - 1900 1901 - 2000
2001 - 2100 2101 - 2200 2201 - 2300 2301 - 2400 2401 - 2500
2501 - 2600 2601 - 2700 2701 - 2800 2801 - 2900 2901 - 3000
3001 - 3100 3101 - 3200 3201 - 3300 3301 - 3400 3401 - 3500
3501 - 3600 3601 - 3700 3701 - 3800 3801 - 3900 3901 - 4000
Moon Phases Before Common Era (BCE)
Links to
Century
Tables
-1999 - -1900 -1899 - -1800 -1799 - -1700 -1699 - -1600 -1599 - -1500
-1499 - -1400 -1399 - -1300 -1299 - -1200 -1199 - -1100 -1099 - -1000
-0999 - -0900 -0899 - -0800 -0799 - -0700 -0699 - -0600 -0599 - -0500
-0499 - -0400 -0399 - -0300 -0299 - -0200 -0199 - -0100 -0099 - 0000

Acknowledgement

All calculations presented here are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy. The computer software for predicting the phases of the Moon and eclipses is written in THINK Pascal and run on a PowerMac G4. It is based on procedures described in Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus (Willmann-Bell, Inc., Richmond, 1998).

Permission is granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by a link to this page and the credit line:

"Moon Phases Table courtesy of Fred Espenak, www.Astropixels.com"