The Moon is 96 percent dark, just a sliver left.
Na véspera de uma lua nova, o céu de abril de 2025 guarda apenas um fio de luz — 4% da superfície lunar ainda alcançada pelo sol. É o momento limiar do ciclo de 29,5 dias que rege marés, calendários e a imaginação humana desde os primórdios do tempo. Amanhã, ao entardecer, a Lua se apagará completamente antes de renascer, como faz há bilhões de anos.
- A Lua está a apenas um dia de desaparecer: em 27 de abril às 16h33, ela entrará em conjunção com o Sol e se tornará invisível a olho nu.
- Com apenas 4% de iluminação, o fino crescente que resta no horizonte ocidental mal pode ser visto ao anoitecer — o céu noturno já pertence quase inteiramente às estrelas.
- O ciclo de abril percorreu todas as suas fases: do crescente inicial no dia 4, passando pela lua cheia do dia 12, até o declínio que começou no dia 20 e chega agora ao seu fim.
- Após a escuridão total de amanhã, a Lua iniciará sua lenta reaparição, e um novo crescente surgirá no crepúsculo ocidental em poucos dias, apontando já para a próxima lua cheia de maio.
No sábado, 26 de abril de 2025, a Lua está quase ausente do céu. Apenas 4% de sua superfície ainda reflete a luz do sol — um finíssimo crescente que desaparecerá completamente em menos de 24 horas. Amanhã, às 16h33, ela entrará na fase de lua nova, quando o satélite se posiciona entre a Terra e o Sol, com o rosto voltado inteiramente para a escuridão.
A jornada lunar de abril seguiu o ritmo preciso que guia calendários há milênios. O ciclo começou no dia 4, com o surgimento do crescente crescente às 23h16. Em 12 de abril, às 21h23, a lua cheia iluminou o céu em todo o seu esplendor. Então veio a virada: no dia 20, às 22h37, a Lua iniciou seu declínio, entrando na fase minguante que se estende até hoje.
Uma lunação — o intervalo entre duas luas novas — dura em média 29,5 dias, divididos em quatro fases principais e quatro fases intermediárias. Os dados do calendário lunar de abril são fornecidos pelo Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia do Brasil, fonte oficial para essas observações celestes.
Para quem olhar o céu esta noite, a Lua será um fio tênue baixo no horizonte ocidental. Amanhã à noite, terá desaparecido por completo, deixando o céu entregue às estrelas. Em poucos dias, o crescente mais suave reaparecerá no crepúsculo, e o ciclo recomeçará — como sempre fez.
On Saturday, April 26, 2025, the Moon is nearly gone from the sky. Only 4 percent of its surface catches the sun's light—a thin crescent that will vanish entirely within a day. This is the waning phase, the final stretch of the lunar month, when the Moon shrinks toward invisibility. By tomorrow evening, at 4:33 p.m., it will slip into the new moon, that moment when Earth's satellite sits directly between us and the sun, its face turned entirely away.
The Moon's journey through April follows a rhythm as old as timekeeping itself. The cycle began on the 4th, when the waxing crescent first appeared at 11:16 p.m., marking the end of March's new moon and the start of a fresh lunation. Two weeks later, on April 12 at 9:23 p.m., the full moon rose—that bright, complete disk that has guided travelers and marked calendars for millennia. Then came the turn. On April 20 at 10:37 p.m., the Moon began its decline into darkness, entering the waning phase that continues through today.
This pattern repeats with mathematical precision. A lunation—the interval from one new moon to the next—averages 29.5 days. During that span, the Moon passes through four primary phases: new, waxing crescent, full, and waning. Each phase lasts roughly a week. But the cycle is more intricate than that. Between the new and full moons lie two intermediate stages: the waxing crescent and the waxing gibbous. Between full and new come the waning gibbous and the waning crescent. These eight phases, or interfases as astronomers call them, create the complete picture of how the Moon's illuminated portion changes as it orbits Earth.
The data tracking April's lunar calendar comes from Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology, the official source for such celestial observations. Their records show that tomorrow's new moon will arrive at 4:33 p.m., completing the cycle that began three weeks ago. After that moment of darkness, the Moon will begin its slow emergence once more, growing toward the next full moon that will arrive in May.
For anyone watching the sky tonight, the Moon will be a thin sliver low on the western horizon at dusk, barely visible to the naked eye. By tomorrow night, it will have vanished entirely, leaving the evening sky to the stars alone. Then, within days, the faintest crescent will reappear in the western twilight, and the whole cycle will begin again.
Citas Notables
A lunation or lunar cycle averages 29.5 days, during which the Moon passes through four primary phases, each lasting roughly seven days.— Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (Inmet)
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does the Moon disappear entirely during the new moon phase? Doesn't it still exist?
It absolutely exists—it's still there, orbiting Earth. But during the new moon, it sits directly between us and the sun. The side facing Earth is the side turned away from the sun's light, so we see nothing. It's like standing behind someone and trying to see their face.
And this happens on a schedule? Every month, like clockwork?
Nearly. The lunar cycle averages 29.5 days, which is why it doesn't align perfectly with our calendar months. April's cycle started on the 4th and will end tomorrow. By May, a new one begins.
What's the practical difference between all these phases—the gibbous, the crescent, the waning? Are they just names, or do they matter?
They matter for observation and navigation. Historically, people used lunar phases to track time, plan harvests, navigate at night. Today, it's mostly about understanding natural cycles and predicting when the Moon will be bright or dark in the sky.
So right now, on April 26, we're at the very end of the month's story?
Exactly. We're in the final chapter. The Moon is 96 percent dark, just a sliver left. Tomorrow at 4:33 p.m., that sliver vanishes, and the story resets.