Waxing Crescent Moon visible on May 18

On May 18 the Moon is in a waxing‑crescent phase, with only about 3 % of its disk illuminated, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide. The thin sliver is too faint to reveal surface details. The next full Moon will occur on May 31, making this month feature two full moons.

The Moon completes an orbit around Earth in roughly 29.5 days, passing through eight recognized phases: new Moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full Moon, waning gibbous, last quarter, and waning crescent. The waxing‑crescent phase places a small sliver of light on the right side of the Moon as seen from the Northern Hemisphere.