What is a waxing moon? How can you tell when it is waxing? How many days in a month have a waxing moon?

The lunar month is 29 days long and is the time from the new moon (when the moon cannot be seen) until the start of the following new moon.

The moon is said to be waxing during the phase in which it is growing from a new moon to a full moon. After that point, the moon is said to be waning. The full moon itself is observed at the exact mid-point of the lunar month. Immediately afterwards, the moon is said to be waning.

The dates of the waxing moon vary from month to month. This is because the lunar month and the calendar month have different numbers of days. To add to the confusion, the lunar month itself is not precisely 29 days long, but roughly 29.5 days, and its duration varies slightly from month to month.

To determine what the moon is doing at any given time, you will therefore need to use a page that specializes in giving this information, or else you can connect a bot to your messenger to tell you, once a month, which days will have a waxing moon and which will have a waning one.

Below, I will try to answer some interesting questions about the waxing moon. If anything isn’t clear, please write to me and I will be sure to explain.

How can you tell by sight if the moon is waxing?

The rule is that, if you hold an imaginary stick up to the left of the moon and it makes a lower-case letter b, then the moon is waxing (b for beginning). This is easy to remember and use.

How long does the waxing moon last?

The moon waxes from the new moon to the full moon. This takes about 14 days.

How many days in a month have a waxing moon?

This depends on the number of days in the month and which days the waxing phases fall on. The answer is at least 14 days, and no more than 17. You can always use a special page to check what the moon is doing now and when the next waxing moons will be.

Why do people say you should have your hair cut when the moon is waxing?

This is something of a folk tale or superstition, but a great many people will tell you from experience that a waxing moon is the best time to have your hair cut, because the hair grows better afterwards.

Why do we only ever see one side of the moon?

This is a very interesting question. It is answered in a separate article.