Last
Quarter* ♎ Libra
Moon phase for
Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
Last Quarter 58% illuminated
Last Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 58% and getting smaller. The 21 days old Moon is in ♍ Virgo.
* The exact date and time of this Last Quarter phase is on 28 December 2010 at 04:18 UTC.
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
Moonrise and moonset
Moon rises at midnight and sets at noon. It is visible to the south in the morning.
Moon in ♍ Virgo
Moon is leaving the last ∠3° of ♍ Virgo tropical zodiac sector and will enter ♎ Libra later.
Apparent angular diameter ∠1972"
Lunar disc appears visually 1.1% wider than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1972" and ∠1951".
Wolf Moon after 23 days
Next Full Moon is the Wolf Moon of January 2011 after 23 days on 19 January 2011 at 21:21.
Upcoming main Moon phases
- Last Quarter in Libra ♎ on 28 December 2010 at 04:18
- New Moon in Capricorn ♑ on 4 January 2011 at 09:03
- First Quarter in Aries ♈ on 12 January 2011 at 11:31
- Full Moon in Cancer ♋ on 19 January 2011 at 21:21
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 135 / 1088
The Moon is 21 days old. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the last part of current synodic month. This is lunation 135 of Meeus index or 1088 from Brown series.
Synodic month length 29.64 days
The length of the lunation is 29 days, 15 hours and 27 minutes. It is 2 hours and 1 minute shorter than the next lunation's length. The lengths of the following synodic months are going to increasing with the true anomaly getting closer to the value it has at the point of New Moon at apogee (∠180°).
Lunation length longer than mean
The length of the current synodic month is 2 hours and 43 minutes longer than the mean synodic month length. It is 4 hours and 20 minutes shorter compared to 21st century's longest synodic month length.
Lunar orbit position on
True anomaly ∠67°
At the beginning of the lunation cycle the true anomaly is ∠67°. At the beginning of next synodic month the true anomaly is going to be ∠103.5°.
Moon after perigee
1 day after point of perigee on 25 December 2010 at 12:24 in ♌ Leo. The lunar orbit is getting widen, while the Moon is moving away from the Earth. It will keep this direction over the next 13 days, until the Moon reaches the point of next apogee on 10 January 2011 at 05:38 in ♓ Pisces.
Distance to Moon 363 400 km
The Moon is 363 400 km (225 806 mi) away from Earth and getting further over the next 13 days until the point apogee when Earth-Moon distance is going to be 404 976 km (251 640 mi).
Moon after descending node
5 days after descending node on 21 December 2010 at 14:08 in ♊ Gemini. The Moon is located south of the ecliptic over the following 7 days, until the lunar orbit crosses from South to North in ascending node on 3 January 2011 at 12:48 in ♑ Capricorn.
Draconic month
20 days since the beginning of current draconic month in ♑ Capricorn, the Moon is navigating from the second to the final part of the cycle.
Moon before southern standstill
6 days since the previous standstill on 20 December 2010 at 12:37 in ♊ Gemini when the Moon has reached North declination of ∠24.238°, the lunar orbit is extending southward over the next 5 days to face maximum declination of ∠-24.242° at the point of next southern standstill on 2 January 2011 at 10:06 in ♐ Sagittarius.
Syzygy in 7 days
In 7 days on 4 January 2011 at 09:03 in ♑ Capricorn the Moon is going to be in a New Moon geocentric conjunction with the Sun and thus forming the next Sun-Moon-Earth syzygy alignment.
