There is a pattern to it. But it isn't easy to spot because it's not correlated with the year or with calender months. It's an approximately 28 day cycle, repeats roughly every four weeks.
The basic pattern is that it moves across the sky like the sun, but just a bit more slowly, it lags behind the sun by about an hour every day.
(That's because the Earth is spinning towards the sun as it rises, and the Moon is orbiting Earth very slowly in the same direction that the Earth spins though much more slowly so it falls behind the sun further and further every day).
Starting from new moon the pattern is
New moon: sun and moon rise together. Since the sun is almost behind the Moon then from our viewpoint only the thinnest sliver of the Moon is lit up or none at all - and because it is in the sky at the same time as the sun - and right next to the sun - we don't see it at all, except in cases of solar eclipses (these depend on rare alignments of the orbits of the Moon with the sun).
There is no Moon at all at night at this point in the month.
Then as the lunar month continues, moon rises and sets later and later. After a few days you begin to notice the crescent Moon in the sky after the sun sets. That's always a new Moon, if you see it setting just after the sun.
As the month continues, eventually the Moon has lagged so far behind that it is at the zenith when the sun sets - and rises at midday. At that point it is in its first quarter phase, with the West side of the Moon lit up as seen from Earth.
At this stage, the Moon sets at midnight. So the night is still Moonless from midnight through to dawn.
Then, as it falls further behind eventually the Moon rises as the sun sets. That's when it is opposite the sun, so most fully illuminated and brightest - so that's the full Moon.
When it is full Moon you get it all night, with no Moon at all in the daytime.
That's also when you may get lunar eclipses if the alignment is right, with shadows of the Earth passing across the face of the Moon - and you can then see the curvature of the Earth (far larger than the Moon). This is how the Greeks first discovered that the Earth was round (Galileo didn't do that, his innovation was to suggest that the Earth orbits the sun - and as for Columbus he knew the Earth was round but thought it was smaller than it actually is).
Then later on the Moon rises after the sun sets. So then you get dark evenings with no Moon at all and the last quarter Moon doesn't rise until midnight, and sets at midday. So you may well see this Moon in the early morning at the zenith, and then setting at midday.
Finally as it moves towards new Moon again - the Moon rises later and later in the night. If you see a thin crescent Moon rising in the East in the morning before the sun rises - then that is the very last phase of the Moon (with the East side of the Moon lit up).
Eventually it rises with the sun, so no longer visible except during eclipse and then the cycle repeats.
So you see there is a pattern to it, but not so easy to spot until you get used to it.
The highest tides happen at full moon and new moon, when the Moon and the sun are aligned - so if you live by the sea, and tides matter to you, you may notice the Moon more because if you see a full or new Moon you know you get especially high tides and if you see a first or third quarter Moon you know the tides will be not nearly so high.
This app shows your Moon rise and set times for any day of the month, also your own local sun rise and set times and the phase of the Moon.
Worldwide sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset times for 2015 and 2016
The basic pattern is that it moves across the sky like the sun, but just a bit more slowly, it lags behind the sun by about an hour every day.
(That's because the Earth is spinning towards the sun as it rises, and the Moon is orbiting Earth very slowly in the same direction that the Earth spins though much more slowly so it falls behind the sun further and further every day).
Starting from new moon the pattern is
New moon: sun and moon rise together. Since the sun is almost behind the Moon then from our viewpoint only the thinnest sliver of the Moon is lit up or none at all - and because it is in the sky at the same time as the sun - and right next to the sun - we don't see it at all, except in cases of solar eclipses (these depend on rare alignments of the orbits of the Moon with the sun).
There is no Moon at all at night at this point in the month.
Then as the lunar month continues, moon rises and sets later and later. After a few days you begin to notice the crescent Moon in the sky after the sun sets. That's always a new Moon, if you see it setting just after the sun.
As the month continues, eventually the Moon has lagged so far behind that it is at the zenith when the sun sets - and rises at midday. At that point it is in its first quarter phase, with the West side of the Moon lit up as seen from Earth.
At this stage, the Moon sets at midnight. So the night is still Moonless from midnight through to dawn.
Then, as it falls further behind eventually the Moon rises as the sun sets. That's when it is opposite the sun, so most fully illuminated and brightest - so that's the full Moon.
When it is full Moon you get it all night, with no Moon at all in the daytime.
That's also when you may get lunar eclipses if the alignment is right, with shadows of the Earth passing across the face of the Moon - and you can then see the curvature of the Earth (far larger than the Moon). This is how the Greeks first discovered that the Earth was round (Galileo didn't do that, his innovation was to suggest that the Earth orbits the sun - and as for Columbus he knew the Earth was round but thought it was smaller than it actually is).
Then later on the Moon rises after the sun sets. So then you get dark evenings with no Moon at all and the last quarter Moon doesn't rise until midnight, and sets at midday. So you may well see this Moon in the early morning at the zenith, and then setting at midday.
Finally as it moves towards new Moon again - the Moon rises later and later in the night. If you see a thin crescent Moon rising in the East in the morning before the sun rises - then that is the very last phase of the Moon (with the East side of the Moon lit up).
Eventually it rises with the sun, so no longer visible except during eclipse and then the cycle repeats.
So you see there is a pattern to it, but not so easy to spot until you get used to it.
The highest tides happen at full moon and new moon, when the Moon and the sun are aligned - so if you live by the sea, and tides matter to you, you may notice the Moon more because if you see a full or new Moon you know you get especially high tides and if you see a first or third quarter Moon you know the tides will be not nearly so high.
This app shows your Moon rise and set times for any day of the month, also your own local sun rise and set times and the phase of the Moon.
Worldwide sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset times for 2015 and 2016
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
4.8m answer views110.4k this month
Top Writer2017, 2016, and 2015
Published WriterHuffPost, Slate, and 4 moreHuffPost, Slate, Forbes, Newsweek, Business Insider, and Science 2.0