What Is Today on the lunar calendar is clear: as of Friday, Nov. 6, the Moon is in the Waning Crescent phase and 16% of its surface is visible. For anyone looking up tonight, that means a thin, fading slice remains before the New Moon arrives.
NASA and the Waning Crescent
NASA describes a Waning Crescent as a thin sliver of light on the left side before the Moon goes dark again in the Northern Hemisphere. The Moon runs through a complete lunar cycle in around 29.5 days, so this late-stage view is part of the normal sequence rather than anything unusual. The same cycle is what makes today's view brief.
16% Visible Before New Moon
The complication is that the Moon is still visible at 16%, but it is also moving toward a New Moon, when the Moon sits between Earth and the sun and the side we see is dark. That makes this one of the last chances to catch the lunar surface before it disappears from view for this phase. The visible portion will keep shrinking as the cycle advances, though the source does not specify by how much.
November 24 Full Moon
The next Full Moon will take place on November 24. For readers tracking the month rather than a single night, that gives a clear next marker after today's fading crescent and closes the gap between the current sliver and the brighter phase ahead.
