Waning
Gibbous ♌ Leo
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
Waning Gibbous 89% illuminated
Waning Gibbous is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 89% and getting smaller. The 18 days old Moon is in ♌ Leo.
Moon phases for next 7 days
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri
Saturday Sat
Sunday Sun
Monday Mon
Moon phase and lunation details
2 days after Full Moon
Previous main lunar phase is the Full Moon before 2 days on 12 December 2008 at 16:37.
Moonrise and moonset
Moon rises in the evening and sets in the morning. It is visible to the southwest and it is high in the sky after midnight.
Moon is entering ♌ Leo
Moon is passing first ∠3° of ♌ Leo tropical zodiac sector.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1955"
Lunar disc appears visually 0.3% wider than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1955" and ∠1950".
Cold Moon before 2 days
Next Full Moon is the Wolf Moon of January 2009 after 26 days on 11 January 2009 at 03:27.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Last Quarter in Virgo ♍ on 19 December 2008 at 10:29
- New Moon in Capricorn ♑ on 27 December 2008 at 12:23
- First Quarter in Aries ♈ on 4 January 2009 at 11:56
- Full Moon in Cancer ♋ on 11 January 2009 at 03:27
Neap tide
There is low ocean tide on this date. Sun and Moon gravitational forces are not aligned, but meet at big angle, so their combined tidal force is weak.
Lunation 110 / 1063
The Moon is 18 days old. Earth's natural satellite is moving from the middle to the last part of current synodic month. This is lunation 110 of Meeus index or 1063 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.81 days
Length of current 110 lunation is 29 days, 19 hours and 28 minutes. It is 5 minutes shorter than next lunation 111 length.
Lunation length longer than mean
Length of current synodic month is 6 hours and 44 minutes longer than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 19 minutes shorter, compared to 21st century longest.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠161.9°
This lunation true anomaly is ∠161.9°. At the beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠186.6°. The length of upcoming synodic months will keep decreasing since the true anomaly gets closer to the value of New Moon at point of perigee (∠0° or ∠360°).
Moon after perigee
2 days after point of perigee on 12 December 2008 at 21:37 in ♊ Gemini. The lunar orbit is getting wider, while the Moon is moving outward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 11 days, until it get to the point of next apogee on 26 December 2008 at 17:50 in ♐ Sagittarius.
Distance to Moon 366 710 km
Moon is 366 710 km (227 863 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves farther next 11 days until apogee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 406 602 km (252 651 mi).
Moon in descending node
Moon is in descending node in ♌ Leo at 23:02 on this date, it crosses the ecliptic from North to South. Moon will follow the southern part of its orbit for the next 14 days to meet ascending node on 30 December 2008 at 07:40 in ♒ Aquarius.
Draconic month
12 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♒ Aquarius, the Moon is moving from the middle to the last part of it.
Moon after northern standstill
2 days after previous North standstill on 12 December 2008 at 18:39 in ♊ Gemini, when Moon has reached northern declination of ∠27.024°. Next 10 days the lunar orbit moves southward to face South declination of ∠-27.026° in the next southern standstill on 26 December 2008 at 08:03 in ♐ Sagittarius.
Syzygy in 12 days
After 12 days on 27 December 2008 at 12:23 in ♑ Capricorn, the Moon will be in New Moon geocentric conjunction with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Moon-Earth syzygy.