Moon in waning phase on May 22; new moon arrives in 5 days

On May 22, 2025, the Moon completes its quiet retreat toward invisibility, sitting at 32 percent brightness and diminishing — five days from the stillness of the new moon. This waning phase is one station in a 29.5-day cycle that has organized human time, agriculture, and navigation since before written memory. Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology marks the precise moments of each transition, reminding us that even the most ancient rhythms submit to careful measurement. We are, as always, somewhere in the middle of a cycle that has no true beginning.