I wrote about the Luna moon phase applet for GNOME Shell earlier this year, a handy applet for the astronomically minded, but it’s been having issues of late – but there’s a new alternative.
Phases of Moon is a GNOME Shell extension that tackles the same idea but, in my opinion, makes more of a visual impact.
Click the panel icon and you’re greeted by a large illuminated image of the current moon phase, plus info on when the next major phase is due.
Worth installing? As a humbling reminder that a ball of rock floating in space can stick to a schedule better than I can — sure! Perfect for night photographers, space geeks, the spiritually-minded …
I wrote about the Luna moon phase applet for GNOME Shell earlier this year, a handy applet for the astronomically minded, but it’s been having issues of late – but there’s a new alternative.
Phases of Moon is a GNOME Shell extension that tackles the same idea but, in my opinion, makes more of a visual impact.
Click the panel icon and you’re greeted by a large illuminated image of the current moon phase, plus info on when the next major phase is due.
Worth installing? As a humbling reminder that a ball of rock floating in space can stick to a schedule better than I can — sure! Perfect for night photographers, space geeks, the spiritually-minded and (of course) werewolf hunters.
Unlike a desktop app or a website which requires you to open them, Phases of Moon offers a lean and serene experience as it lives on the top bar, where it’s always visible. Plus, the icon relays the current lunar phase directly.
Click on the icon to reveal a pop up with more information, including illumination percentage, phase age, phase name (waning gibbous, full moon, etc) and a countdown in days, hours and minutes until the next lunar phase or event.
Many calculations are handled locally on your machine but Phases of the Moon also pulls in data from Starwalk, including the main moon image. If you click on the info in the pop up it takes you to a detailed lunar calendar on the Starwalk website.
A small set of options are provided, letting you pick a style of moon graphic (normal or inverted for light mode), pick a preferred panel position and set its index position to control precisely where it sits amongst other top bar icons.
Source code is on GitHub, but it’s easier to install it from GNOME Extensions (see below). It supports GNOME 46, 47, 48 and 49, so if you run Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or later, you’re good to go.