Moon Phase Today Antalya

Moon Phase Today Antalya: Last Quarter

On Sunday, October 4, 2026, the moon in Antalya is a Last Quarter with 45% illumination. Moon age: 22.6 days.

Illumination
45%
Moon Age
22.6d
Next Full Moon
Oct 26
Distance
--
☽ Moonrise
—
↑ Highest
—
☾ Moonset
3:10 PM

curent-moon-cycle-in-Antalya, Turkey

☽ Best Places to View the Moon in Antalya, Turkey

Antalya lies on a wide Mediterranean bay where the Taurus Mountains meet the sea. Low beaches give you broad horizons over water, while steep coastal mountains and high interior plateaus offer elevation above haze and city lights. The bay opens to the south, so the Moon, which rises in the east and sets in the west, crosses the sky above the water in front of you. Antalya is also home to the TÜBİTAK National Observatory, so it has more real telescope options than most Turkish cities. Exact Moonrise and Moonset directions change with the date and your observing position, so check both before planning a specific composition.

TÜBİTAK National Observatory & Saklıkent – Telescopes in the Mountains

The TÜBİTAK National Observatory (TUG) stands on Bakırlıtepe above Saklıkent, a national park on the Antalya–Muğla border known for its mountain environment and ski area. It is Turkey's largest active observatory, with a 1.5 m telescope, and observatory tours reach it by chairlift and a walk in groups. TÜBİTAK's annual Sky Observation Event, first held in 1998, has long been held at Saklıkent, with telescope observations of the Moon and planets. In the city, TUG's Science and Technology Center (BİTOM) on the Akdeniz University campus has held public days with a 35 cm telescope showing the Moon and planets. These are scheduled events, so check current dates and access.

Tahtalı Dağı (Mount Olympos) – 2,365 m

Tahtalı Dağı rises to 2,365 m in Beydağları Sahil National Park, west of Kemer. The mountain rises dramatically above the Mediterranean coast, and a cable car provides access to the summit area. Its combination of high elevation and coastal views makes it an interesting setting for observing the Moon above the Mediterranean landscape. It lies south-south-west of the city across the bay, so from Konyaaltı the Moon passes high above its silhouette rather than setting behind it. The cable car runs on set hours, so check them before planning a late visit.

Konyaaltı & Lara – Bay Beaches

Popular coastal areas in Antalya city for broad horizons. Konyaaltı is a pebble and sand beach on the western side of the bay, and Lara is on the eastern side. The bay opens south, so the Moon crosses the sky above the water in front of you, and coastal viewpoints can provide broad horizons for lunar photography, with the exact Moon position depending on the date, the location and the azimuth, which varies throughout the year.

Aspendos & Side – Ancient Theatres

Aspendos lies approximately 8 km east of Serik, with a Roman theatre that official tourism material describes as exceptionally well preserved. Side is on the coast, with the Temple of Apollo near the water. They give historic stone foregrounds for lunar photography with open horizons, although whether the Moon is over the sea depends on the azimuth. Check opening hours for the archaeological sites.

Olympos & Çıralı – National Park Coast

Beydağları Sahil National Park officially includes Olympos and the Çıralı-area attractions. Olympos is an ancient city within the park, and Çıralı is a coastal village near the park with a protected beach and forest surroundings. It is generally less urbanised than central Antalya, although local lighting varies, and it is one of the best-preserved stretches of natural coastline in the region.

Termessos & Kızlar Sivrisi – Mountain Settings

Termessos is an ancient city within Güllük Dağı–Termessos National Park, where elevations range from roughly 250 m to 1,663 m. Kızlar Sivrisi is the highest peak of the Beydağları at 3,086 m, according to Antalya's provincial tourism authority, a remote high-mountain summit reached through Çamçukuru Valley and the Antalya–Elmalı road, and not an easy-access photography viewpoint. Both are away from the Antalya urban core, but access, opening hours and nighttime entry restrictions should be checked before visiting.

◉ Best Times for Moon Photography in Antalya

🌕 Full Moon: rises near sunset and sets near sunrise — the timing and azimuth depend on the date and location
🌔 Waxing gibbous: useful for blue hour at Konyaaltı, Lara and Çıralı — foreground still lit
🔭 Telescope events — TÜBİTAK National Observatory and BİTOM, on set dates
🌑 New Moon: for darker-sky work on Tahtalı and the interior highlands — check mountain weather and park access

📷 Quick Tips for Antalya

🎯 Tripod for landscape and bracketing — A close Moon can often be photographed handheld with a fast shutter speed, but a tripod is useful for multi-exposure landscapes, bracketing, and carefully composed scenes. For compositions that include Konyaaltı's promenade, Side's temple columns, or Tahtalı's ridge above the coast, a tripod lets you keep the horizon steady over water and use longer lenses without shake during blue hour when foreground detail still matters.
📷 RAW + bracketing for bright disc — The Moon is much brighter than a dark foreground, so a single exposure can make it difficult to retain detail in both the lunar disc and the landscape. Bracketing or exposure blending can help preserve crater detail while keeping beach, pine forest, and ancient stone visible, especially during twilight over the bay.
📏 Looney 11 as a starting point — For a full Moon, start at f/11, ISO 100, 1/100s and adjust from there. It's a traditional baseline, not a universal exposure. Coastal haze over the Mediterranean, reflections off calm water in the bay, and dusty air from the Taurus can change exposure, so refine with your histogram, especially when the Moon is low and warm-colored.
🌕 Longer lens for sea and mountain — A telephoto in the 200–400mm range lets you isolate the Moon against Tahtalı's silhouette, boats off Kemer, or columns at Side and Aspendos. It compresses distance and makes the disc feel large against foreground elements like cliffs and pine-covered slopes, rather than getting lost in a wide sky.
🌃 Manual focus on lunar limb — Autofocus can hunt in low light and on bright discs over dark water. Switch to manual and focus carefully on the edge of the Moon or on a distant harbor light at Kaleiçi or Çıralı, then lock it. Use magnified live view if available to confirm crater detail before moonrise or moonset.
🌧 Check MGM for haze and cloud — Antalya sits between a wide bay and high mountains, so conditions can change rapidly with elevation and proximity to the coast. Check the Turkish State Meteorological Service for coastal haze, wind, and cloud cover before heading out, particularly for Tahtalı and Saklıkent where mountain cloud can build quickly.

🕐 Timezone: Antalya uses Turkey Time (TRT), UTC+3, year-round. Turkey has used a single permanent time zone since September 2016 and does not observe daylight saving. Europe/Istanbul zone.

🔭 Telescope Options: The TÜBİTAK National Observatory on Bakırlıtepe above Saklıkent hosts tours and TÜBİTAK's annual Sky Observation Event, and its Science and Technology Center (BİTOM) on the Akdeniz University campus has held public days with a telescope. Check TÜBİTAK National Observatory's announcements for dates.

Access: Tahtalı Dağı is in Beydağları Sahil National Park west of Kemer, with a cable car to the summit area. Kızlar Sivrisi is reached through Çamçukuru Valley and the Antalya–Elmalı road. Olympos is an ancient city within the park and Çıralı a village beside it. Termessos is in Güllük Dağı–Termessos National Park, and Saklıkent is a separate national park to the west and north-west of the city.

Antalya works because you have a wide bay at sea level and high Taurus peaks just inland. Use the beaches and coastal villages for broad Moonrise and Moonset over water when the azimuth aligns, Tahtalı and higher viewpoints for cleaner horizons above haze, and the national observatory's events to see the Moon through a telescope.

The moon phase today in Antalya is shown above. For moon phase today anywhere else, visit the calculator on our home page.

◐ What It Feels Like

At Konyaaltı and Lara, the bay opens south with the Taurus behind, where moisture shapes the weather across the coast.

At Çıralı and Olympos within the coastal park, pine forest meets clear water, with generally less urbanisation than central Antalya, although local lighting varies.

Up on Tahtalı, the mountain rises dramatically above the Mediterranean coast, with cable car access to the summit area and views across bay, forest and sea.

On an event night at Saklıkent, telescopes line the slope near the national observatory and visitors queue for a look at the Moon and planets.

"A wide bay where mountains meet clear water — pine forest, ancient stone, a ridge rising above the coast, and Turkey's national observatory in the hills."

✓ Checklist for Lunar Observers

Before You Go

  • Check moonrise and moonset azimuth — it determines whether the Moon is over water
  • Check MGM — coastal haze and mountain cloud, since conditions change rapidly with elevation
  • Confirm access — Beydağları Sahil National Park, Güllük Dağı–Termessos National Park and Saklıkent, and the dates of any observatory event

What to Bring

  • Telephoto and wide for sea and mountain foregrounds
  • Tripod for landscape and bracketing — useful for multi-exposure, and a close Moon can be handheld with a fast shutter
  • Lens cloth for sea spray
  • Warm layers — colder at higher elevations

On the Night

  • Manual focus on the lunar limb
  • Bracket for the disc and the foreground — it is difficult to retain both in a single exposure
  • Stay on paths — the national parks and ancient sites are protected
  • Higher ground can offer cleaner horizons and less haze, but darkness still depends on nearby artificial light
Start low at Konyaaltı and Lara for bay horizons when the azimuth aligns, use Side and Çıralı for ancient and park foregrounds, then use Tahtalı and the mountain viewpoints for high, open sky, and the national observatory's events for a telescope.

? Antalya Moon Phase — Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the moon phase today in Antalya?

The moon phase today in Antalya is a Last Quarter with 45% illumination. The next full moon is in 23 days, on 26 Oct. Moonrise is at — and moonset at 3:10 PM.

Q. Where is the best place to view the moon in Antalya?

Antalya lies on a wide Mediterranean bay where the Taurus Mountains meet the sea. Konyaaltı and Lara are the city's bay beaches, giving broad horizons over the water. Tahtalı Dağı (Mount Olympos), at 2,365 m in Beydağları Sahil National Park, has a cable car to its summit area, and Olympos and Çıralı sit on the park's protected coast. Aspendos and Side have ancient stone foregrounds, Termessos is a mountain-top ancient city, and above Saklıkent, the TÜBİTAK National Observatory is the country's main sky-watching site.

Q. Can I look at the moon through a telescope in Antalya?

Yes, at events. The TÜBİTAK National Observatory (TUG) is on Bakırlıtepe above Saklıkent, Turkey's largest active observatory, with a 1.5 m telescope, and TÜBİTAK's annual Sky Observation Event, first held in 1998, has long been held at Saklıkent, with telescope observations of the Moon and planets, though some editions are held elsewhere, such as Bursa in 2024. In the city, TUG's Science and Technology Center (BİTOM) on the Akdeniz University campus has held public days with a 35 cm telescope showing the Moon and planets. Check TÜBİTAK National Observatory's announcements for current dates, since observing depends on the weather.

Q. Where does the moon rise and set in Antalya, and how high does it climb?

At about 36.9°N, Antalya's moonrise and moonset points swing widely across the horizon each month, from roughly east-north-east to east-south-east for rising and west-north-west to west-south-west for setting, with an even wider swing in years near a major lunar standstill. A full moon near the winter solstice climbs to roughly 76° in the south, while a full moon near the summer solstice stays lower, peaking near 30°. The bay opens to the south, so the Moon crosses the sky above the water in front of you, and Tahtalı lies south-south-west of the city across the bay, so the Moon passes high above its silhouette rather than setting behind it. Check the azimuth for your date and exact spot.

Q. Is light pollution a problem for moon observing in Antalya?

The moon is bright enough to observe and photograph from almost anywhere in Antalya, so light pollution rarely limits the lunar disc itself. It does wash out earthshine on a thin crescent and any faint sky detail. Antalya is a large city with a continuous resort coast, so stars are faint around the bay. Olympos, Çıralı and the mountains are less urbanised, and the national observatory sits high on Bakırlıtepe, though darkness still depends on nearby artificial light.

Q. What camera settings and phases work best for moon photography in Antalya?

For a full moon, start with Looney 11 (f/11, ISO 100, 1/100 s) and refine using your histogram, since it is a baseline rather than a guarantee. The moon is much brighter than the beach, the pine forest and the ancient stone, so shoot RAW and bracket or blend exposures to keep both crater detail and the foreground. A waxing gibbous suits blue hour at Konyaaltı, Lara and Çıralı while the foreground is still lit. A telephoto of about 200 to 400 mm can isolate the moon against Tahtalı's silhouette, boats off Kemer or the columns at Side and Aspendos, with a tripod and manual focus on the moon's edge using magnified live view.

Q. How do coastal haze, dust and mountain cloud affect moon viewing in Antalya?

Antalya sits between a wide bay and high mountains, so conditions can change rapidly with elevation and distance from the coast. Coastal haze over the Mediterranean and dusty air from the Taurus can lower contrast and warm-colour a low moon, and cloud can build quickly on Tahtalı and at Saklıkent. Check the Turkish State Meteorological Service forecast for haze, wind and cloud before you go, and bring warm layers for the mountains, which are much colder than the coast.

Q. What time zone are Antalya's moonrise and moonset times shown in?

Antalya runs on Turkey Time, UTC+3, all year. Turkey has used a single permanent time zone since September 2016 and does not change its clocks. Moonrise and moonset times on this page follow the local clock. Antalya lies at about 30.7°E, west of the 45°E meridian on which UTC+3 is based, so the sun and moon cross the sky about 57 minutes later on the clock than they would on that meridian.

Q. Can I shoot the moon at Antalya's viewpoints after dark?

Mostly, with care, but check each place. Konyaaltı and Lara are public beaches. Beydağları Sahil National Park, which includes Olympos and Çıralı, and Güllük Dağı–Termessos National Park are protected, so stay on paths and check their access and opening hours, since nighttime entry restrictions can apply. The Tahtalı cable car runs on set hours, and the observatory at Bakırlıtepe is open only through organised events and tours.