Your guide to the night.

01 · Graph anatomy

How to read the graph.

Seven details tell one story. Select a number to find its place on the Moon night display, then switch display types to see how the same sky is drawn.

02 · Time window

A little behind you. The night ahead.

The graph covers 24 elapsed hours, starting three hours before the current quarter hour. Now sits about three hours from the left edge, with roughly 21 hours still ahead. It is a rolling window, rather than a calendar day starting at midnight.

The curve connects 97 samples taken 15 minutes apart. Short ticks mark local midnight, 06:00, noon and 18:00. Your current graph covers the next calculated interval.

03 · Above and below

Height on the graph means height in the sky.

The vertical position represents the Moon’s geometric centre altitude at your location. Positive values are above the horizon, negative values below it. The scale adapts in 30° steps and always includes at least 30° below and 30° above the horizon.

A segment is dotted when both ends lie below the geometric horizon. It becomes solid when either end touches or rises above it. This lets you follow the Moon’s path below the horizon without suggesting you can see it.

See the curve and horizon.

04 · Display technologies

The same night, three ways to read it.

Compare the complete Moon night graph on all three display types. Each view uses the same location, time and astronomical calculations.

Dark window patterns appear only above the graph’s horizon. They mark a time interval, not a part of the sky. On monochrome, denser dots mean darker conditions.

05 · Sunlight background

Watch daylight turn into night.

The background describes the calculated altitude of the Sun’s centre. It gives the lunar curve its daylight context.

Swipe the table or use arrow keys to read every column.

The astronomical night band tells you the Sun is far enough below the horizon. The Moon may still be up and adding light.

See the sunlight bands.

06 · Dark window

Find your interval of deeper darkness.

A dark window without moonlight needs both conditions at once: the Sun more than 18° below the horizon and the Moon below its calculated visible horizon. Dense dots on monochrome, or diagonal hatching on colour, highlight it above the horizon line.

The Moon information field shows the current or first upcoming window in the next 24 hours. Before it starts, you see both times. During it, the field shows “Dark until” followed by the end time. An interval extending beyond the search period is clipped at the end of those 24 hours.

The window covers the next 24 hours. If darkness is already underway, the duration shows the time remaining.

Your current or next interval: Calculating · Checking the local date. Duration: Calculating.

Recognise the darkness pattern.

07 · Next rise or set

Know which horizon event comes next.

The event row shows the next moonrise or moonset strictly after now, looking up to 48 hours ahead. Monochrome shows the event and time. Colour also includes its direction. The event may occur on the following day, even though the row does not print its date.

For your selected location: Calculating · Checking the local date · Calculating · Checking the direction.

A direction such as SW means southwest at that event, rounded to one of eight compass points. The separately selectable “Next rise or set” Moon field includes direction on every display type.

Enabling the optional upper data field changes the event row to a compact arrow: ↑ for rise or ↓ for set, followed by its time. Times use your watch’s preference for a 12 or 24 hour clock. With a 12 hour clock, a and p identify morning and afternoon.

Read the next event on each display.

08 · Illumination

How much of the lunar face is sunlit?

Illumination is the rounded fraction of the Moon’s visible face lit by the Sun, from 0% to 100%. Your current reading is Calculating. It describes the disc, rather than the brightness at your location or your chance of seeing the Moon.

09 · Age and phase

Place tonight within the lunar cycle.

Moon age counts elapsed days since the calculated previous new moon, shown to one decimal place. Your current reading is Calculating. It is not a countdown to full moon.

Your current phase: Calculating.

The phase field chooses one of eight names: New moon, Waxing crescent, First quarter, Waxing gibbous, Full moon, Waning gibbous, Last quarter and Waning crescent. Waxing means the sunlit fraction is increasing toward full. Waning means it is decreasing toward new.

Compare the Moon readings.

10 · Next full moon

A date to look forward to.

The next full moon field gives the date of the next calculated full moon in your watch’s local time zone. The watch uses day.month order in English too. This field displays a date, with no event time or countdown.

Your next full moon falls on the next calculated date. The website’s selected time zone determines the date shown here.

The calculation works without a location. The date still follows your watch’s local time conversion.

11 · Full moon names

A traditional name for the next full moon.

Choose North American traditional names or historical German month names in settings. The name describes the next full moon. It does not rename tonight’s current phase.

• Harvest Moon is the full moon nearest the calculated September equinox in the North American scheme.
• Hunter Moon is the full moon after Harvest Moon.
• Blue Moon means the second full moon in the same calendar month in your watch’s local time zone. This rule applies to both naming traditions.
• Historical German names remain proper names, with a local month abbreviation added outside German.

Small displays use shorter forms. A Super or Micro modifier replaces the date when applicable. Your next full moon is being calculated in the North American naming tradition.

12 · Apparent size

A changing distance. A changing diameter.

Apparent size compares the Moon’s current angular diameter with a reference distance of 384,400 km. The calculation is 384,400 km ÷ current distance × 100%. Your current reading is Calculating of that reference diameter.

This value is independent of the Moon image’s fixed pixel size on your watch. A change in diameter is not the same as a change in area, illumination or light.

The full moon name can add Super when the next full moon is closer than 360,000 km, or Micro when it is farther than 405,000 km. Those are this watchface’s conventions. They use the distance at the next full moon, while the size field uses the current distance.

13 · Lux and four light bars

An estimate of the light around you.

The ≈ symbol marks a modelled light estimate in lux (lx). It combines lunar phase and altitude, a simple daylight and twilight model, and a small background contribution. Available Garmin weather reduces the moonlight contribution according to cloud cover, fog or precipitation. It does not read a light sensor or include terrain or artificial lighting.

There are four bars and five levels. They always describe the current estimated light. Unfilled bars have outlines.

Swipe the table or use arrow keys to read every column.

The words in the last column explain the scale. They are not a legend printed beside the watch’s bars. Four filled bars can occur during twilight.

The numeric field uses three decimal places below 0.01 lx, two below 1 lx and whole lux above that. Your current estimate is Calculating.

See the four light bars.

14 · Solunar windows

Traditional timing around lunar events.

Major windows last two hours: one hour before and after the Moon’s upper or lower meridian transit. Minor windows last one hour: 30 minutes before and after moonrise or moonset.

The strip under the graph draws major periods as thicker marks and minor periods in its lower half. Windows are clipped at the graph’s edges. A lower transit does not mean a rise or set, and the Moon can be below the horizon.

The information field chooses a current period first, otherwise the next one within 48 hours. Before a window, it shows its start. During a window, it shows the end. Major takes priority when current windows overlap.

Your current or next Solunar period: Calculating.

Recognise major and minor windows.

15 · Your Moon detail

Choose the question your watch answers.

Select one of ten Moon information fields, or choose None to hide it. These are separate from the optional battery, weather and sensor data fields.

Swipe the table or use arrow keys to read every column.

The table presents the same readings with room for explanatory labels. Your watch displays one selected Moon detail at a time. Choose None for a quieter display.

See all ten fields on each display.

16 · Plan a night

Read the night as a whole.

Your night · Choose a location to begin.

1. Start with the Moon. Phase: Calculating. Illumination: Calculating. Age: Calculating. Apparent diameter: Calculating of the reference.
2. Read the light. Your light estimate for the selected preview weather is being calculated. Use the bar scale above to understand the level.
3. Look for the next event. Calculating · Checking the date · Calculating · Checking the direction.
4. Find the dark interval. Current or next window: Calculating · Checking the date. Available duration: Calculating.
5. Keep the time scales separate. Solunar period: Calculating. Next full moon: Calculating · Checking the date.

Use the line marking now and the local dates to keep past events separate from those still ahead. Change your location or time above to read a different night.

Make it yours

Set up your watch.

Open Moon Metrics Pro’s watchface settings in Garmin Connect IQ, choose your layout and location, then select the Moon detail and additional data you want to see.

Recognise the data symbols.

These are the watch’s own symbols, enlarged for clarity. Values come from your device.

Location and availability

Give the sky a place.

All astronomical calculations run offline. The watchface needs no account, API key or server connection for its Moon calculations.

See exactly what the watch calculates →

Automatic or manual location

Automatic mode uses an available passive device position and remembers the last valid fix. It does not start a GPS recording. Recording a GPS activity can provide an updated position.

For manual mode, enter both latitude and longitude for your observing location. Decimal points and decimal commas are accepted. Blank or invalid coordinates do not create a default location.

What works without a location?

Phase, illumination, Moon age, next full moon date and name, and apparent size remain available. The graph, rise/set, dark windows, estimated light and Solunar windows need coordinates. Without them, the Moon orientation falls back to an upright northern view.

In Moon night, a selected Moon field that needs coordinates falls back to illumination and the graph shows Set location. In Compact, the selected field keeps the location prompt. With the upper optional data field enabled, an unavailable event row shows two short dashes.

Read the messages

Swipe the table or use arrow keys to read every column.

Where additional data comes from

The watchface uses existing Garmin data without activating sensors or making its own online weather requests. Available Garmin weather supplies temperature and precipitation chance and adjusts the calculated moonlight for current conditions. Battery days remaining depends on a value provided by the device and shows two short dashes when unsupported.

Selected heart rate, steps, altitude and battery percentage are read each minute. Weather, precipitation, pressure and battery days are checked every five minutes. Selecting a different field prompts an immediate read.

When a reading is briefly unavailable, the last valid value can remain until its age limit: five minutes for heart rate, 15 minutes for altitude and pressure, and three hours for weather. Age is measured from the original reading. After that, the field shows two short dashes.

Return to Moon Metrics Pro →