Moon comes in different forms depending on how it’s lit and what you’re looking at. Here’s a quick guide to the main ideas of your question, plus some common named variations you might have in mind. What “kind” of moon means

• Moon phases: The Moon’s appearance changes in a repeating cycle about every 29.5 days. The main stages are new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter. In between, you see changing crescents and gibbous shapes as the Moon orbits Earth. These phases describe how much of the Moon’s sunlit hemisphere you can see from Earth.

• Full moon varieties (often called by common names): On occasional nights, full moons can look different due to the Moon’s orbit, atmospheric conditions, or eclipses. Examples people reference include:
  • Blood Moon: When a total lunar eclipse occurs, the Moon can take on a reddish hue due to Earth’s atmosphere filtering and refracting sunlight onto the Moon.

* Supermoon: A full moon that coincides with its closest approach to Earth in its orbit, making it appear slightly larger and brighter than average (a perceptual effect rather than a change in the Moon’s actual size).

* Blue Moon: Commonly used to describe either the second full moon in a calendar month or a rare, unusually pale looking full moon, depending on the tradition you follow.

* Harvest Moon / Flower Moon / Wolf Moon, etc.: These are traditional names associated with full moons that occur near particular times of year and were used in various cultures to mark agricultural and seasonal events. They describe the time of year rather than a physical difference in the Moon’s appearance.

If you’re asking in a practical sense (e.g., what you’ll see tonight or this month)

• Tonight’s Moon phase depends on the current date and location. Generally, you can check a Moon phase calendar or a sky app, which will tell you whether the Moon is new, waxing crescent, first quarter, gibbous, full, waning, or last quarter, and whether there are any notable events such as a lunar eclipse or a supermoon visible from your area.

Common names by season

• The names most people encounter in media or folklore for full moons through the year include:
  • Wolf Moon (January)
  • Snow Moon (February)
  • Worm Moon (March)
  • Pink Moon (April)
  • Flower Moon (May)
  • Strawberry Moon (June)
  • Buck Moon (July)
  • Sturgeon Moon (August)
  • Harvest Moon (often the full Moon closest to the autumn equinox)
    These names reflect historical or regional traditions rather than distinct astronomical types.

If you’d like, share your location and the date, and the exact Moon type you’re curious about (e.g., “tonight’s full moon,” “the next lunar eclipse,” or “a supermoon this month”), and the details can be tailored to what you’ll actually see.