The Moon "comes out" or becomes visible depending on its phase in its roughly 29.5-day lunar cycle. Here is when the Moon typically appears in the sky based on its major phases:
- New Moon: The Moon is not visible because its illuminated side faces away from Earth; it rises and sets roughly with the Sun.
- Waxing Crescent: Visible as a sliver shortly after sunset.
- First Quarter: Rises around noon, visible in the afternoon and evening.
- Waxing Gibbous: Visible late afternoon through most of the night.
- Full Moon: Rises at sunset and is visible all night.
- Waning Gibbous: Visible most of the night and early morning.
- Last Quarter: Rises around midnight, visible in the late night and morning.
- Waning Crescent: Visible in the pre-dawn sky until early afternoon.
The exact moonrise and moonset times vary daily as the Moon moves in its orbit, rising about 50 minutes later each day on average. The full moon rises at sunset, making it visible all night, while the new moon is essentially invisible because it rises and sets with the Sun.
