I recently checked the lunar calendar and was surprised to see that on March 5th, the moon was in a very interesting phase. It turns out that on that day, it was 16 days into its cycle and displayed that waning gibbous phase that almost everyone recognizes, with about 95% illuminated. That is, the moon was practically full but already beginning to wane.

The interesting thing is that which moon we observe on those dates depends a lot on where you are in Mexico. From most parts of the country, the lunar disk appeared almost full in the night sky, in that stage right after the full moon and before the last quarter. By March 11th, it would have shifted to that phase where only the left half is illuminated.

I've always been fascinated by how the Waxing and Waning Gibbous phases are the best for telescope observation. The shadows are much more pronounced, and you can see the craters, the mountains of the moon with incredible relief. It’s like having a 3D view of the satellite. March 2026 was a good month for those who love studying the moon and its changes every night.