Lunar Calendar & Moon Phase
What is the moon phase and lunar date today?
Astronomical lunar calendar, Chinese lunar date, and Lunar New Year tracking
Waning Gibbous
73% Illuminated
Hair Cutting Calendar Guidance
Week of Mar 8 - Mar 14, 2026
This view follows traditional Tibetan/Vedic lunar hair-cutting guidance using Tithi transitions.
Waning periods are often used for maintenance cuts and scalp care.
Tithi 21: Illness. Better to avoid cutting.
Favorable Days
- • Tue (Mar 10): Clothes & Food
- • Wed (Mar 11): Prosperity
- • Sat (Mar 14): Happiness
Avoid If Possible
- • Sun (Mar 8): Hunger & Thirst
- • Mon (Mar 9): Illness
- • Thu (Mar 12): Viral Disease
- • Fri (Mar 13): Eye Trouble
Care Routine This Week
- • Book favorable-day trims early in the week.
- • Use avoid days for oiling, scalp massage, and wash routines.
- • Track regrowth over 4 weeks to calibrate your preferred moon timing.
March 2026
Calculations are based on 29.53-day synodic cycle and 12° Tithi segments.
Calendar mode: Hair Cutting.
Lunar dates use the traditional Chinese lunar calendar (Lunar New Year marked on month/day 1/1).
Lunar New Year marker is enabled by default for immediate visibility.
Recommended Next Steps
Continue your journey with these related tools
Lunar Calendar Guide: How to Read Lunar Dates and Lunar New Year
Key Insights & Concepts
A lunar calendar follows the Moon's cycle instead of the solar-only month system used by the Gregorian calendar. This page combines moon phase, lunar day, and Lunar New Year markers so you can plan with both astronomical timing and traditional lunar date conventions.
What this lunar calendar shows
- Moon phase: New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon, and waning phases based on the 29.53-day synodic cycle.
- Lunar date: Traditional Chinese lunar month/day labels (including leap month notation when present).
- Lunar New Year: Clearly marked when lunar month/day is 1/1.
Lunar New Year: why the date changes each year
Lunar New Year does not use a fixed Gregorian date. It begins on the first day of the first lunar month, so it moves every year and typically falls between late January and mid-February in most modern calendars.
In practice, that means you should always check the exact year on a lunar calendar before travel, festivals, family gatherings, or business planning. This tool surfaces that date directly in the month grid with a dedicated badge so it is easy to spot.
How to use this page for planning
- Choose your month and identify major moon phases for visibility, tides, or activity timing.
- Use the lunar month/day label on each date to align with lunar-calendar traditions.
- Look for the Lunar New Year marker to anchor annual plans and adjacent celebrations.
Related planning calculators
- Travel Budget Calculator for trip-cost planning around holiday windows.
- Time Zone Calculator to coordinate Lunar New Year events across regions.
- Flight Time Calculator to estimate long-haul timing for seasonal travel peaks.
Lunar New Year: Date, Zodiac, Traditions, and Quick Answers
Key Insights & Concepts
Most people searching for "Lunar New Year" want fast answers: the exact date, zodiac animal, celebration length, and what traditions happen on each day. This section covers those answers in one place.
When is Lunar New Year?
- 2027 Lunar New Year: Sunday, February 7, 2027
- 2028 Lunar New Year: Wednesday, January 26, 2028
- Zodiac animal for 2027: Goat
How long is Lunar New Year?
Holiday periods vary by country, but the seasonal observance is often described as a 15-day festival cycle from New Year's Day to the Lantern Festival. Family reunions, meals, travel, and gift customs are usually concentrated in the first several days.
Common Lunar New Year traditions people ask about
- Reunion dinner: family gathering on New Year's Eve.
- Red envelopes: monetary gifts symbolizing luck and blessings.
- Decorations: red couplets, lanterns, and symbols of prosperity.
- Fireworks and lion/dragon dances: celebratory performances and festive atmosphere.
- Lucky foods: symbolic dishes linked to wealth, longevity, and abundance.
Lunar New Year vs Chinese New Year
"Chinese New Year" usually refers to traditions rooted in Chinese communities. "Lunar New Year" is the broader term many people use for new-year celebrations in multiple cultures that follow lunisolar calendars.
Countries and regions where Lunar New Year is widely celebrated
Celebrations are significant across East and Southeast Asia and in global diaspora communities, including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, and large metropolitan areas worldwide.
The Moon: Earth's Celestial Companion
Key Insights & Concepts
The Moon is more than a night-light. It is a massive gravitational engine that drives the tides, stabilizes the Earth's wobble (giving us seasons), and has served as humanity's first calendar for 30,000 years.
1. The "Synodic Month" (29.53 Days)
If the moon orbits the Earth every 27.3 days (Sidereal Month), why is the cycle 29.5 days?
Because the Earth is moving too! By the time the moon completes one orbit, Earth has moved along its path around the Sun. The moon has to travel an "extra" 2.2 days to catch up and align with the Sun again to create a New Moon. This 29.53-day cycle is the basis of all lunar calendars (Hebrew, Islamic, Chinese).
2. Tithi: The Vedic Lunar Day
In Western calendars, a day is sun-based (sunrise to sunrise). In Vedic astrology (Jyotish), a "Lunar Day" or Tithi is defined by the angle between the Moon and Sun.
- Each Tithi is exactly 12° of separation.
- Because the moon's speed varies (elliptical orbit), a Tithi can vary from 19 to 26 hours.
- This causes the phenomenon of "skipped days" (Kshaya Tithi) or "doubled days" (Adhika Tithi) in lunar calendars.
3. Blue Moons and Super Moons
You hear these terms on the news often. Here is the science:
- Super Moon: When a Full Moon coincides with Perigee (the moon's closest point to Earth). It appears 14% larger and 30% brighter.
- Blue Moon: Usually defined as the second full moon in a single calendar month. This happens about once every 2.5 years.
4. Hair Cutting and Agriculture
Why does this tool have a hair cutting mode?
Biodynamic farming (and Lunar Hair Care) operates on the theory that moisture and sap flow are pulled by the moon's gravity, just like tides. The "Waxing" phase (growing) is considered best for stimulating growth (hair or plants), while the "Waning" phase is for strengthening roots or slowing growth.